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CRAVE    OK    ANTHONY    Ol.EF  ;     1723. 


HISTORY 


OF 


THE  ORANGES 


IN    ESSEX   COUNTY,   N.  J. 


From  1666  to  iSg6, 


BY 


STEPHEN   JVICKES,  M.D. 


icwavh,  g.  if. : 


PRINTED     BY    WARD    &     T  1  C  H  E  N  O  I^ 
For  the  New  England  Society  of  Orange. 

I  892. 


h^ 


PREFACE. 


DURING  the  last  fifteen  years  of  his  life,  the  author 
of  this  work  devoted  most  of  his  leisure  time  to 
collecting  the  materials  necessary  to  its  preparation. 
His  labors  in  this  direction  resulted  in  gathering,  and 
perhax)s  rescuing  from  oblivion,  reminiscences  that  had 
never  been  placed  in  writing  ;  as  well  as  many  docu- 
ments that  were  so  hidden  away  as  to  be  almost  wholly 
inaccessible,  and  apparently  destined  to  be  ultimately 
lost.  To  the  general  reader,  they  cannot  fail  to  be  in- 
teresting ;  and  their  value  cannot  fail  to  be  appreci- 
ated by  the  indwellsrs  of  the  region  whose  history  he 
purposed  to  preserve.  The  materials  thus  gathered 
consist  largely  of  locgil  incidents ;  of  facts  that  tend 
to  fix  places,  boundaries  and  historic  paths  almost  lost 
to  memory  ;  of  descriptions  of  the  homelife  and  char- 
acter of  the  earliest  settlers  of  New  Jersey  ;  of  mat- 
ters appertaining  to  their  first  efforts  in  commerce  and 
manufactures  ;  of  their  religion,  and  meeting  houses ; 
with  sketches  of  prominent  individuals  among  them. 
All  these  materials,  obtained  from  the  most  reliable 
sources,  and  carefully  arranged  by  the  author,  were, 
with  a  few  exceptions,  made  ready  by  him   for  the 


IV 


Preface. 


printer's  hand,  when  death  jpiit  an  end  to  his  earthly 
labors.  Under  the  direction  of  a  Committee  of  the 
New  England  Society  of  Orange,  assisted  by  Mr. 
Frederick  W.  Ricord,  the  work  thus  done  by  him  has 
been  passed  through  the  press ;  the  praise  for  its  con- 
ception and  preparation  being  wholly  due  to  its  ven- 
erable author. 

The  illustrations  in  the  book  were  printed  by  the 
DeVinne  Press,  of  New  York,  from  plates  made  by 
the  Gill  Engraving  Company,  after  photographs  taken 
b}''  Mr.  Frank  P,  Jewett.  The  other  printing  is  by 
Messrs.  Ward  &  Tichenor. 

Orange,  N.  J.,  May,  1S92. 


PLATES    AND     ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Grave  of  Anthony  Olef,  (1723) Frontispiece 

Dodd  Saw  Mill To  face    40 

Early  Roads,  (map  of) To  face    46 

Joseph  Riggs'  House To  face    48 

Samuel  Harrison's  Saw  Mill To  face    68 

Graves   of   Matthew    Williams,   (1732,)    and   his   wife, 

Ruth,  (1724) To  face    «4 

Extract  from  Samuel  Harrison's  Account  Book .To  face    96 

Tomb  of  Rev.  Daniel  Tayler,  (1748-8)    To  face  no 

Page  from  Sermon  by  Rev.  Daniel  Tayler  (1743-4)   .  .  .To  face  114 

The  Old  Parsonage,  (1748)   To  face  134 

The  Second  Meeting  House,  (1754) To  face  138 

Tomb  of  Rev.  Caleb  Smith,  (1762,)   and  Grave  of  his 

wife,  Martha,  (1757)   To  face  146 

Tomb  of  Rev.  Caleb  Smith,  (1762) To  face  148 

Page  from  Sermon  by  Rev.  Caleb  Smith,  (1760) To  face  152 

Matthias  Pierson's  House To  face  170 

Aaron   Harrison's  House To  face  178 

Page  from  Jemima  Cundict's  Diary,  (1774) To  face  182 

Notes  for  a  Sermon  by  Rev.  Jedidiah  Chapman,  (1791)  To  face  204 
Subscriptions  for  building  Parish  Sloop,  (1784)    ....     To  face  232 

Grave  of  Elizabeth  Joens,  (1729) To  face  234 

Graves  cf  Nathaniel  Wheeler,  (1726,)  and  his  widow, 

Esther,  (1732) To  face  236 

Grave  of  Hannah  Jones,  (1732) .To  face  238 

Survey  of  the  Parish  Lots  and  the  Common,  opposite 

the  Old  Parsonage  House To  face  248 

The  Third  Meeting  House,  (1813)   To  face  268 

Thomas   Williams'  Grist    Mill,  as  re-built    by  Jesse 

Williams To  face  272 

Graves  of  Dr.  John  Condit,  (1S34) ;  his  first  wife,  Abi- 
gail, (1784)  ;  his  second  wife,  Rhoda,  (1834,)  and 
two  of  his  children To  face  298 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

INTRODUCTION. 

The  Purchase  of  Lands  ; — The  Puritans  from  New  England  ;- 
The  "  Half-way  Covenant ;  " — The  "  Fundamental  Agreement ;  "- 
Rev.  Abraham  Pierson 


CHAPTER   I. 

Topography  of  the  Mountain  ; — Water  Sheds  ; — Swamps  ;— Flora 
and  Fauna  ; — Indians  and  their  Religion  ; — Indian  Paths g 

CHAPTER   II. 

The  Early  Settlers; — The  Division  of  their  Lands  ; — Their  Ves- 
sels and  Shipping;— The  Settlement  at  Newark ;— Essex  County 
Established; — The  Town  at  the  River; — The  Third  Division  of 
Home  Lots; — The  Newark  Mountains  ; — Trade  with  New  York  ; — 
Small  Pox; — Their  Plantations  and  Farm  Implements; — Their 
Horses; — Their  Apple  Orchards; — Their  Saw  Mills  ;— Building 
Materials  ; — Home  Life  ;  —Construction  of  Houses  ; — Furniture  ; — 
Wearing  Apparel ; — Tools; — Food; — Domestic  Animals 31 

CHAPTER  III. 
Early  Roads  ; — Main  Street ;  --South  Orange  Avenue  ; — Valley 
Road  ; —  Road  to  Cranetown  ;—  Eagle  Rock  Road  ; — Swinefield 
Road  ;— Washington  Street; — Park  Street; — Prospect  Street; — 
Scotland  Street ;— Centre  Street ; — Harrison  Street ; — Early  Method 
of  Constructing  Roads 45 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Early  Local     Industries  ; — The    First   Steam    Engine  ;— Mining 
Epidemic ;  Copper  Mines  in  Orange  and  Bloomfield  ; — Manufacture 
of  Hats  ; — Distilleries  ; — Products  ;— Currency  ; — Traffic 54 

CHAPTER  V. 
Legislation  and  the  Laws,  public  and  private ;— Schools  and 
School  Houses; — The  First  School  House; — Land  Tenures; — 
The  Lords  Proprietors  ;— The  First  Settlers  at  Orange— Contro- 
versy with  the  Lords  Proprietors; — The  Purchase  from  the  Na- 
tives;— The  Elizabethtown  Associates; — The  Surrender  of  the 
Proprietary  Government  to  the  Crown  ; — Anti-Renters; — Contest 
between  Grantees  of  Berkely  and  Claimants  under  Indian  Titles  ; — 
A  Brief  Vindication  of  the  Purchasers  against  the  Proprietors.. .      72 


Table  of  Contents.  vii 

CHAPTER  VI. 

"The  Mountain  Society,"  its  first  years; — Ministry  of  Rev. 
Joseph  Webb;— Rev.  Nathaniel  Bowers; — Rev.  Alexander  Mac- 
Whorter; — Rev.  Jedidiah  Buckingham; — Rev.  John  Prudden  ; — 
The  Organization  of  the  Society; — Rev.  Daniel  Taylor; — The 
First  Meeting  House  ; —  The  Church  Service  ; —  Death  of  Mr. 
Taylor  ; — "  De  yigilantia,"  a  Sermon  by  Mr.  Taylor 97 

CHAPTER  Vn. 

Rev.  Caleb  Smith ; — His  Sermon  on  the  Death  of  Rev.  Aaron 
Burr; — Eiizabethtown  Lottery  ; — The  Rating  of  the  Parish  ; — The 
Glebe; — Mr.  Smith's  Grammar  School; — The  Parsonage,  its 
erection  and  cost ; — The  Second  Meeting  House,  its  erection  and 
cost;  —  The  Parson  in  the  Parsonage; — Death  of  Mr.  Smith, 
and  his  estate; — Members  in  Communion  prior  to  1756; — Mem- 
bers after  1756; — Baptisms  by  Mr.  Smith,  1756  to  1762; — A  Ser- 
mon by  Mr.  Smith 118 

CHAPTER  Vni. 

Essex  County  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution ;— Meeting  of 
Citizens  June  11,  1774; — The  Convention  at  New  Brunswick  July 
21,1774  ; — Meetings  of  Citizens  December  7,  1774,  and  May  4,  1775; 
—  Raising  Funds  for  the  Expenses  of  the  War; — Washington  at 
the  Newark  Mountains  ; — The  Price  of  Food  ; — The  Raids  by  the 
Hessians; — Revolutionary  Incidents; — Houses  used  as  Head- 
quarters ; — Capt.  Thomas  Williams'  Pewter  Mug;— Dinner  at  Ned 
Tomkins'  Inn  ; — An  Act  of  Courtesy  has  its  Reward  ; — Avenging 
the  Insults  of  a  British  Officer ;— Brave  Men  from  Belleville;-- 
Self- Detection  of  a  Thief ;— Lafayette  Angry  in  Cranetown  ;— 
Parson  Chapman's  Game  Cock ;— Parson  Chapman  Cheers  for 
Freedom  ;— Pluck  of  Samuel  Harrison  ; — John  Durand  Repairs 
Washington's  Field  Glasses;- Whiskey  Lane;— Jemima  Cundict; 
Extracts  from  her  book  ;  her  Death  ;— Samuel  Harrison,  his  Mills 
and  Occupation ic8 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Rev.  Jedidiah  Chapman  ; — The  Condition  of  the  Society  before 
the  War  ; — Mr.  Chapman's  Education,  Characteristics,  Marriage 
and  Resignation  ;—  Notes  for  a  Sermon  by  Mr.  Chapman  ; — Mem- 
bers Received  into  Communion  by  Mr.  Chapman,  1766-1783; — 
Baptisms  by  Mr.  Chapman   ,00 


viii  Table  of  Contents. 

CHAPTER    X. 

After  the  War,  Peace  ; — The  Refugees  at  Bergen  Neck  ; — The 
Condition  of  the  Mountain  Society  ; — The  Church  at  Caldwell ; — 
The  Church  at  Bloomfield  ; — The  Baptist  Church  at  Northfield  ; 
The  Rev.  Asa  Hillyer ;— Bottle  Hill ;— The  Society  under  Rev. 
Edward  Dorr  Griffin  ; — Dr.  Hillyer  a  Trustee  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey; — The  Resignation  of  Dr.  Hillyer,  and  his  Death 211 

CHAPTER  XI. 

The  Orange  Academy,  its  organization  and  growth  ;— The  Par- 
ish Sloop,  the  subscription  for  its  building,  and  sale  of  the  same  ; — 
The  Orange  Dock  ; — The  Parish  Nailery  ; — The  Old  Grave  Yard  ; 
Saint  Mark's  Grave  Yard ;— The  First  Church  Bell,  and  the 
Bell-ringer; — Building  Lots  in  1795,  and  the  advertisement  for 
sale  of  same; — Century  Day,  1801  ; — The  Parish  Lands,  and  deeds 
for  same  ; — The  Glebe  ; — The  Common  ; — The  Parsonage  Lands  ; — 
Working  the  Land; — The  Sale  of  Lots  from  the  Glebe; — The 
Meeting-House  Lot;— The  John  Cundict  Lot; — The  Parsonage 
House  Lot ; — Surveys  ; — The  Lower  Parsonage  ; — Disputes  con- 
cerning the  same; — The  Lease  and  its  Revocation; — The  Final 
Adjustment  of  Differences  and  the  Conveyance  of  the  Land  ; — 
The  Name  of  Orange  ;  the  first  use  of  the  Name  ;— Orange  Dale.    229 

CHAPTER  XH. 

The  Township  of  Orange,  its  Incorporation  and  Boundaries;  — 
Newark  and  Mount  Pleasant  Turnpike; — The  Third  Meeting 
House,  its  erection  and  cost ; — Modern  Local  Industries  ;— Grist 
Mills,  Leather  and  Tanneries,  Saw  Mills,  Timber,  Wool,  Boots  and 
Shoes,  Hats 265 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Disease  and  Pestilence; — Small  Pox,  Inoculation,  Diphtheria, 
Dysentery; — The  First  Physicians  at  Newark  Mountain,  Drs. 
Deancey,  Turner,  Pigot,  Burnet,  and  Dickinson ;  Dr.  Matthias 
Pierson  ;— Midwifery  ; —  Dr.  John  Condit ; — Dr.  Isaac  Pierson  ;— 
Dr.  William  Pierson,  Sen 282 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

A  Few  Notable  Men  : — l^ethuel  Pierson  ;— Thomas  Williams  ; — 
Benjamin  Williams  ;— John  Peck  ;— Stephen  D.  Day 305 


INTRODUCTION. 


NEWARK  TOWNSHIP  was  founcled  in  1666, 
arrangements  having  been  perfected  the  year 
before  with  Governor  Carteret,  by  a  committee  of 
prominent  men  of  the  New  Haven  Colony,  for  the 
possession  of  lands  in  New  Jersey.  Tliese  arrange- 
ments were  based  nj)on  the  terms  of  the  "Conces- 
sions," and  contained  the  stipulations  and  guarantees 
of  the  proprietors,  Berkley  and  Carteret.  Further- 
more, to  provide  against  any  future  difficulties  with 
Indian  claimants,  a  i)urchase  of  all  Indian  rights  was 
made,  by  authority  of  Governor  Carteret,  and  all 
Indian  claims  were  extinguished.  ^ 

The  lands  thus  purchased  were  bounded  on  the  east 
by  the  Passaic  River,  on  the  west  by  the  base  of  the 
first  mountain,  on  the  north  by  the  Yountakah,  or 
Third  river,  and  on  the  south  by  Bound  Brook,  which 
marked  the  line  between  the  Newark  and  Elizabethtown 
purchases.     In  1678-9,  a  second  purchase  Avas  made, 

I.  The  price  paid  was  "fifty  double  hands  of  powder,  one  hundred 
barrs  of  lead,  twenty  Axes,  twenty  Coates,  ten  Guns,  twenty  pistolls,  ten 
kettles,  ten  Swords,  four  blankets,  four  barrells  of  beere,  ten  paire  of  breeches, 
fifty  knives,  twenty  howes,  eijjht  hundred  and  fifty  fathem  of  wampem,  two 
Ankors  of  licquers  or  something  equivolent,  and  three  troopers  Coates." 


2  History   of  the  Oranges. 

and  the  western  line  of  the  township  thereby  extend- 
ed to  the  top  of  the  "Great  Monntain  Watchnng."  ^ 
Thus  the  regions  now  occnpied  l)y  the  towns  of  Belle- 
ville, Bloomfield,  Montclair  and  all  the  Oranges,  was 
added  to  the  original  territory  of  Newark.  The  last- 
named  place,  originally  called  "The  Towne  at  the 
River,"  was  laid  ont  in  six-acre  lots,  and  these  were 
equitably  distributed  to  the  associated  settlers.  ^  Sixty- 
six  heads  of  families  were  rated  ' '  for  the  payment  of 
every  man's  share  of  the  purchase,"  to  be  judged  of 
by  seven  chosen  men,  ' '  that  should  have  full  Power  to 
hear,  examine  and  judge  of  every  Man's  Estate  and 
Persons,  as  their  Rule,  by  which  they  will  proceed  in 
Time  Convenient  to  pay  for  their  Lands  bought  of  the 
Natives,  with  the  necessary  Charges  of  setling  the 
Place,  and  Mr.  Pierson's  Transport,  and  the  Divisions 
and  Subdivisions  of  all  their  Lands  and  Meadows  be- 
longing to  the  same."  ^ 

From  a  careful  study  of  the  genealogies,  it  is  esti- 
mated that  this  new  colony  embraced  about  500  souls. 
They  were  not  adventurers  seeking  to  make  or  mend 
their  fortunes  in  an  untried  and,  except  by  Indians, 
an  untrodden  wilderness.  They  were  men  of  worldly 
means,  and  of  rank  and  standing  in  their  former  New 
England  homes.  At  that  day,  when  money  bore  a 
high  value,  they  were  a  wealthy  community.     Their 

1.  The  price  of  this  purchase  was  "  two  Guns,  three  Coates,  and  thirteen 
kans  of  Rum." 

2.  It  had  been  the  early  custom  in  New  England  to  settle  and  plant  near 
together,  in  order  to  secure  mutual  aid  and  protection  against  the  Indians. 
The  territory  purchased  was  commonly  divided  into  three  parts,  the  first  part 
being  small  ;  the  second,  twice  the  first  in  dimensions  ;  and  the  third,  three 
times  the  first.  The  Newark  planters  adopted  substantially  the  same 
method,  making,  however,  the  second  and  third  divisions  more  in  accord- 
ance with  their  needs  and  the  extent  of  territory  granted. 

3.  See  Records  of  the  Town  of  Newark,  p.  7. 


Introduction.  3 

total  rating  amounted  to   £17,344,  or  about  $64,000 
present    currency.      The    names    of    Robert    Treat, 

Jasi^er    Crane,  and  many 

ik^^tr^  '^Xf^cjJ^^     others,  adom  the  pages  of 

early  New  England  his- 
tory. They  came  from  the  towns  of  Milford,  New 
Haven,  Branford,  Guilford,  all  being  of  the  New 
Haven  Colony.  These  towns  were  settled  by  these 
men.  They  had  su])dued  the  lands,  built  them- 
selves houses  and  barns,  erected  their  churches, 
added  to  their  wealth,  and  made  them,  in  the  course 
of  twenty-five  years,  prosperous  and  thriving  places.  ^ 
These  men  had  not  fled  from  j)ersecution,  as  had  their 
fathers,  forty-six  years  before.  On  the  contrary, 
hither  had  they  come,  having  abandoned  their  once- 
cherished  homes,  and  the  house  of  God,  so  dear  in 
their  memories  of  the  past,  to  lay  again,  on  a  new  soil, 
the  foundations  of  a  community,  which,  as  they  viewed 
it,  should  be  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  God,  which 
was  to  them  supreme. 

The  people  of  the  New  Haven  Colony  were  uncom- 
promising Puritans,  detennined  to  maintain  their  in- 
dependence, and,  above  all  things,  to  preseiye  their 
doctrine  in  perfect  purity.  They  first  settled,  about 
1635,  in  Hartford,  Weathersfield  and  Windsor.  From 
the  first  they  distrusted  the  more  lax  and  liberal 
methods  of  the  Connecticut  Colony.  Their  motto 
was  Ecclesia  liegnans.  None  but  church  members 
should  have  a  voice  in  elections  of  governor,  deputies 


I.  The  lands  in  the  plantation  of  New  Haven  were  purchased  by  the 
principal  men,  in  trust,  for  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  respective  towns;  every 
planter,  after  paying  his  proportional  part  of  the  expenses  arising  from  the 
laying  out  and  settling  the  plantation,  drew  a  lot,  or  lots  of  land,  in  propor- 
tion to  the  money  or  estate  which  he  had  expended  in  the  general  purchase, 
and  to  the  number  of  the  heads  of  his  family.  TrumhuH's  Connecticut, 
/,  /07.  Edition  j8i8. 


4  History   of  the  Oranges. 

or  assistants ;  none  should  be  magistrates,  officers  or 
jury  men  but  those  admitted  to  the  church.  They 
came  to  America  to  find  an  opportunity  to  develop 
their  religious  and  civil  convictions  on  these  lines  of 
thought  and  belief.  Such  strictness  of  policy  was  not 
satisfactory  to  the  churches  of  the  Connecticut  Col- 
ony. Great  and  wearisome  dissensions  were  the 
result,  and  finally  these  people,  in  about  1638,  left  the 
above-named  towns  and  settled,  some  on  Long  Island, 
and  some  on  the  northern  shores  of  Long  Island 
Sound,  constituting  the  New  Haven  Plantations.  In 
five  years  thereafter,  1643,  they  assumed  an  organized 
existence  as  the  New  Haven  Colony,  and  enjoyed  un- 
interrupted peace  in  the  churches,  as  well  as  worldly 
prosperity,  for  twenty  years. 

In  1662,  through  the  agency  of  Gov.  Winthrop,  the 
people  of  Connecticut  obtained  from  Charles  II.  a  char- 
ter ^  with  the  amplest  privileges.  It  was  designed  to 
embrace  that  Colony  and  New  Haven  under  one  juris- 
diction. In  the  negotiations  which  followed,  between 
these  colonies.  Rev.  John  Davenj)ort  took  a  leading 
part.  He  was  strongly  and  conscientiously  opposed 
to  the  union  with  Connecticut,  believing  that  the  con- 
stitution of  the  civil  state  in  the  New  Haven  Colony 
was  more  in  accordance  with  the  mind  of  God,  and 
better  adaj)ted  to  the  great  ends  of  government  than 
any  other  in  the  world.  He  thought  that  the  Consti- 
tution provided  by  the  Connecticut  Charter,  contained 
no  sufficient  safeguard  for  the  liberty  and  safety  of 
the  churches.  2 

The  controversy  between  these  Colonies  was  sharply 
continued  from  the  date  of  the  charter  to  January, 


1.  Trumbull's  History  of  Connecticut,  Vol.  I.,  518. 

2.  Ibid.,  Chap.  xiii. 


Introduction.  5 

IG60,  when  it  ceased,  New  Haven  having  submitted  to 
the  claim  of  Connecticut.  The  main  cause  of  the  dif- 
ference was  the  adoi)ted  tenet  "that  all  baptised  per- 
sons, not  convicted  of  scandalous  actions,  are  so  far 
church  members  that,  upon  acknowledging  their  baptis- 
mal covenant  and  promising  an  outward  conformity  to  it, 
though  without  any  pretension  to  inward  and  spiritual 
religion,  they  may  present  their  children  for  bai)tism." 
Against  this  Pastor  Davenport,  and  many  of  the  i)eo- 
ple  of  the  New  Haven  Colony,  stood  in  determined 
opposition.  The  question  was,  indirectly,  one  of  pol- 
itics, no  less  than  of  ecclesiastical  polity,  for  the 
question,  who  should  be  church  members,  involved 
the  question,  who  should  jDai-take  of  the  right  of 
suffrage. 

Thenceforward  the  "Half-w^ay  Covenant,"  as  it  was 
called,  began  to  be  practiced  in  the  churches,  and 
continued  to  be  for  more  than  a  century.  It  is 
only  since  the  last  years  of  the  last  century  that 
the  views,  of  which  Davenport  w^as  champion,  have 
triumphed. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  public  affairs  under 
which  Richard  Denton  and  his  church  at  Stamford 
migrated  to  Long  Island,  while  Abraham  Piersou, 
with  his  church  at  Branf  ord,  and  with  men  of  kindred 
spirit  from  Milford,  New  Haven  and  Guilford,  became 
the  Newark  Church,  and  the  fathers  of  this  Newark 
region. 

It  is  not  the  author's  purpose  to  write  the  history  of 
the  early  settlement  of  Newark.  This  is  already 
written.  He  has  simply  aimed  to  illustrate  the  char- 
acter of  the  early  settlers,  and  to  answer  the  inquiry 
which  arises  in  every  mind,  why  the  Newark  associ- 
ates left  their  well-appointed  homes  and  well-tilled 
lands  in  Connecticut,  for  new  homes  in  the  primitive 


6  History  of  the  Oranges. 

wilderness  of  New  Jersey.  ^  They  were  sturdy  Puri- 
tans, robust  in  thought  as  in  purpose.  They  made  a 
solemn  covenant  in  New  Haven  that  in  all  their  town 
affairs  they  would  be  governed,  not  merely  by  relig- 
ious motives,  but  by  such  "rules"  as  they  derived 
from  the  Bible,  which  was  their  religion.  How  far 
they  understood,  and  in  what  respect  they  misunder- 
stood, the  Bible  as  a  rule  of  duty,  we  need  not  here 
consider ;  but  when  they  covenanted  to  govern  them- 
selves, in  all  their  work  of  founding  a  Christian 
Church,  and  a  Christian  State,  by  the  Scriptures  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testament,  they  only  professed  dis- 
tinctly and  exj)licitly  what  all  Christian  men  believe 
implicitly.  It  was  the  last  effort  made  in  America  to 
build  a  civil  state  upon  the  narrow  basis  of  the  old 
Puritan  ideas.  '.'  What  was  good  in  our  Puritan  an- 
cestors sprang  from  the  Gospel ;  what  w^as  eccentric 
was  no  part  of  the  Gospel. "  They  came  to  Newark, 
having  adopted  the  following  "  Fundamental  Agree- 
ment. ' ' 

1st.    That    none  shall    be  admitted  freemen  or  free  Burgesses 

within  our  Town  upon  Passaick  River,  in  the  Province 

Deut,  1-13.      Qf  Ne^  Jersey,  but  such  Planters  as  are  members  of 

Exod.,  18-21. 

Deut.,  17-15.     some  or  other  of  the   Congregational  Churches,  nor 

shall  any  but  such  be  chosen  to  Magistracy  or  to  carry 

on  any  part  of  Civil  Judicature,  or  as  deputies  or  assistants,  to 

have  power  to  Vote  In  establishing  Laws,  and  making 

Jerem.,  36-21.    or    Repealing  them,  or  to  any  Chief  Military  Trust 

or  Office.     Nor  shall  any  But  such  Church  Members 

have  any  Vote  in  any  Such  Elections;  Tho'  all  others  admitted  to 

Be  planters,  have   Right  to  their  proper  Inheritance,  and  do  and 

shall  enjoy  all  other  Civil   Liberties  and   Privileges,  According  to 


I.  The  towns  of  Branford  and  Milford  were  deserted  by  all  the  inhabi- 
tants, and  remained  so  for  twenty  years,  after  which  time  they  began  again 
to  be  occupied. 


Introduction.  7 

all  Laws,  Orders,  Grants  which  are,  or  hereafter  shall  be  made  for 
this  Town. 

2nd.  We  shall  with  Care  and  Diligence  provide  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  purity  of  Religion  professed  in  the  Congregational 
Churches.' 

To  the  Rev.  Abraham  Pierson,  more  than  to  any 
otlier  man  in  the  Newark  Colony,  is  due  the  unity 


and  harmonious  action  attendant  upon  its  estab- 
lishment, Pierson  came  with  his  Branford  Church. 
The  Milford  Church  soon  followed,  accej)ting  him  as 
their  pastor  ;  and  those  of  Guilford  and  JSTew^  Haven, 
who  were  in  sympathy  with  the  f  oiTner  towns,  cordially 
united  in  the  new  migration.  They  all  had  tlie  utmost 
conlidence  in  his  piety,  his  learning,  and  his  steadfast 
purpose  in  the  conservation  of  the  interests  of  the 
Church  as  they  understood  them.  He  was  a  native  of 
Yorkshire,  England,  graduated  at  Trinity  College, 
Cambridge,  in  1632,  and  was  ordained  a  minister  in 
the  Church  of  England  at  New^ark,  near  Nottingham. 
Becoming  an  intense  Puritan,  he  led  to  New  England, 
in  1640,  a  comj^any  of  devoted  followers,  with  whom 
he  settled,  first  at  Lynn,  in  the  Massachusetts  Colony. 
After  a  short  stay  there  he  migrated,  with  his  com- 
pany, to  Southampton,  Long  Island.  The  eastern  end 
of  Long  Island  w^as  a  part  of  the  Connecticut  jurisdic- 
tion, and  when  his  people  there,  against  his  convic- 
tions and  earnest  protest,  sided  with  the  Hartford 
churches  under  the  "Half-way  Covenant,"  he,  with 
his  followers,  withdrew  from  Long  Island  and  settled 
in    Branford,    1647,  estal)lishing  a  civil  government 


I.  See  Records  of  the  Town  of  Newark,  N.  J.,  p.  2. 


8  History  of  the  Oranges. 

among  themselves.  During  the  twenty-three  years  of 
his  ministry  at  Branford,  he  gave  himself  to  active 
missionary  work  among  the  Indians,  with  whose  lan- 
guage he  made  himself  familiar  to  such  a  degree  that 
he  prepared  a  Catechism  for  instructing  them  in  Gos- 
pel truths.  His  success  in  his  missionary  work  is  said 
to  have  been  almost  as  great  as  that  of  Eliot  and  May- 
hew  in  Massachusetts. ,  The  title  of  his  book  is  as 
follows:  "Some  Help  for  the  Indians,  showing  them 
how  to  Improve  their  Natural  Reason,  to  know  the 
True  God  and  the  Christian  Religion,  by  Abraham 
Pierson,  Pastor  of  the  Church  at  Branford. — Cam- 
bridge.    Printed  for  Samuel  Green,  1658." 

Only  two  copies  of  this  book  are  known  to  exist — 
one  in  the  Lenox  Library,  New  York ;  the  other  in 
the  British  Museum. 

Cotton  Mather,  in  his  Magnalia  Book,  III.,  95, 
notices  his  learning,  his  ability  and  ' '  his  illuminating 
tongue,"  closing  his  record  with  this  "Epitaphium." 

"  Terris  discessit,  suspirans  Gaudia  caeli, 
PiERSONUS  Patriam  scandit  ad  astra  suam." 

He  died  in  Newark,  N.  J.,  August  9,  1678.  His 
son,  A]:>raham,  was  graduated  from  Harvard  College 
in  1669.  He  was  for  a  time  an  assistant  to  his  father, 
and  finally  his  successor  in  the  Newark  church.  He 
became,  subsequently,  the  first  rector  and  president  of 
Yale  College,  in  which  office  he  continued  till  his 
death,  in  1707. 

None  of  the  lineal  descendants  of  Pastor  Pierson, 
senior,  are  in  these  parts.  The  family  of  Pierson  in 
Essex,  and  counties  contiguous,  is  from  Thomas,  a 
kinsman  of  the  old  pastor. 


CHAPTER   I. 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF  THE   MOUNTAIN. 


THE  red  sandstone,  stretching  its  broad  belt  from 
Nyack,  on  the  Hudson,  down  to  Jersey  City, 
and  thence  across  the  State  of  New  Jersey  to  the  Del- 
aware, is  the  geological  substrate  of  the  Newark 
Mountain.  The  trap  overlying  it  commences  at  Pluck- 
emin,  Somerset  County,  continuing  through  Plainfield, 
Scotch  Plains,  Springfield  and  Milburn  to  the  west 
bank  of  the  Railway  River,  twenty- three  miles.  From 
the  latter  point,  it  continues  in  the  east  and  west  sides 
of  the  Rahway  jST.  N.  East,  about  thirteen  miles,  to 
Little  Falls  and  Paterson.  ^  The  trap  forms  the  crest 
of  the  two  ranges,  known  as  the  First  and  Second 
Mountains.  The  sandstone  underlies  the  trap  from 
one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  from  the 
crest.  The  breadth  of  the  First  Mountain  is  from  one 
to  two  miles,  and  its  height  is  from  three  hundred  to 
six  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  tide  water.  At 
Mount  Pleasant  Avenue,  Orange,  it  is  six  hundred 
and  fifty  feet.  ^ 


1.  The  measurement  of  distance  is  taken  in  straight  lines  from  the  map, 
allowing  for  curves  in  the  trap  line.  The  whole  length  is  about  forty  miles 
of  its  eastern  face. 

2.  See  Geology  of  New  Jersey,  by  Geo.  H.  Cook,  p.  20. 


lo  History  of  the  Oranges. 

The  First  Mountain  bounds  on  the  west  the  plain 
lands  described  in  the  original  "Patent  or  Charter  of 
ye  Township  of  Newarke,"  1713.  (The  purchase  was 
made  in  1666,  but  the  patent  was  not  executed  till 
later.)  It  includes  South  Orange,  Orange,  Bloomfield, 
Montclair,  to  the  bounds  of  Acquackanonck  and  to 
the  Passaic  River. 

The  surface  of  the  region  is  of  drift  worn  from  the 
trap  and  sandstone,  and  bearing  evidence  in  numerous 
places  of  having  been  brought  from  the  region  of 
primitive  rocks.  The  soil  is  a  -sandy  loam,  light, 
friable  and  absorbent,  easily  cultivated,  and  well 
adapted  to  farming,  gardening  and  fruit-growing 
purposes. 

A  casual  survey  of  this  mountain  district  at  the 
present  day  conveys  a  very  imperfect  idea  of  its  prim- 
itive topography.  The  upland  and  the  swamps  were 
quite  equally  distributed.  The  former  was  easily  sub- 
dued. The  heavy  groAvth  of  timber  ui)on  it  was 
sparsely  set,  and  being  void  of  undergrowth,  it  was  fit 
for  immediate  use  as  pasture  land.  "Two  or  three 
men,  in  one  year,  will  clear  fifty  acres,  in  some  places 
sixty,  and  in  some  more.  They  sow  corn  the  first 
year,  and  afterwards  maintain  themselves.  The  trees 
are  not  many  to  the  acre,  except  in  the  hill  country, 
and  there  is  very  much  meadow."  ^  The  swamps  were 
impassable  and  impenetrably  wooded.  The  planters 
first  settled  upon  the  ridges  and  on  the  mountain  side. 

With  their  first  efforts  to  subdue  the  land,  began 
the  disturbing  influences  which,  in  two  hundred  years, 
have  diminished  the  springs,  drained  the  swamps  and 
raised  their  surface.  The  saturated  soil  of  the  forest 
lost  its  native  humidity  when  laid  open  to  the  air  and 


I.  Smith's  History  of  New  Jersey,  i8o. 


Water  Sheds.  1 1 

sun ;  its  cultivation  around  the  low  lands,  the  open- 
ing and  working  of  highways  beside  and  over  them, 
the  decay  and  falling  of  trees  within  them,  arresting 
the  How  of  the  water  and  ijromoting  the  annual  de- 
Ijosit  of  vegetable  glebe  ;  and  all  these  causes  in  con- 
tinuous and  increasing  action,  together  with  the 
exposure  of  soil  by  freezing  and  thawing  subjected  to 
the  erosion  of  water,  and  washed  from  the  cultivated 
ridges,  all  contributed  to  bring  the  surface  into  the 
condition  in  which  we  now  behold  it. 

The  construction  of  dams,  also,  which  flooded  the 
marshes,  and  killed  the  trees,  opened  their  surface  to 
the  sun  and  air.  In  the  progress  of  years  the  superficial 
drainage  from  the  cleared  lands,  which  is  more  regu- 
lar than  from  forest  ground,  promoted  an  unobstructed 
natural  drainage  of  the  streams  north  and  south, 
through  a  "constant  degradation  of  the  uplands  and 
consequent  elevation  of  the  beds  of  water  courses, 
which  is  a  result  of  clearing  of  lands." 

WATER  SHEDS. 

We  have  just  now  spoken  of  the  streams  running 
north  and  south.  The  subject  is  worthy  of  our  special 
notice. 

The  main  street  from  Newark  to  Orange  is  mostly 
on  the  ridge  of  the  water-shed  of  this  region.  The 
Elizabeth  and  the  Rahway  rivers,  running  south,  and 
the  First  and  Second  rivers,  flowing  north,  have  their 
fountain  heads  within  less  than  half  a  mile,  and  in 
some  places  not  more  than  two  hundred  feet  from 
the  main  road. 

First  River,  or  Mill  Brook,  within  Newark  limits, 
rises  within  the  low  grounds  east  and  north  of  the  canal 
bridge,  in  Orange  Street,  running  by  a  nearly  direct 
course  for  three-quarters  of  a  nule,  to  the  Passaic. 


12  History   of  the    Oranges. 

The  Meadow  Brook  is  the  first  easterly  trilmtary  to 
the  Second  River.  Its  head-springs  are  on  the  south 
side  of  Central  Avenue,  between  the  first  and  second 
ridges  west  of  Newark.  Running  north-easterly 
through  the  low  bottom,  and  receiving  the  drainage 
from  the  contiguous  uplands  on  each  side,  it  dis- 
charges into  the  Second  River,  a  mile  and  a  quarter 
from  its  mouth  at  Belleville.  ^ 

The  Elizabeth  River,  which  empties  into  Staten 
Island  Sound,  at  Elizabethport,  derives  its  primitive 
northerly  rivulet  from  the  low  grounds  south-west  of 
the  East  Orange  railroad  station.  The  little  stream 
crossing  Central  Avenue,  runs  west  of  the  Poor  Farm 
to  South  Orange  Avenue,  where  it  receives  the  drain- 
age from  the  adjacent  ridges,  till  it  reaches  Irvington, 
swelling  to  a  size  suflScient  for  milling  purposes, 
and  thence  flows  onward  to  Elizabeth.  The  natural 
drainage  east  and  north-east  of  the  East  Orange  rail- 
road station,  is  north-east  to  the  Passaic  River. 
South-west  of  the  station,  it  is  south-west  to  Staten 
Island  Sound. 

The  east  branch  of  the  Railway  River  has  its  pri- 
mary northerly  fountain-head  in  a  spring  on  the  south 
side  of  the  Mt.  Pleasant  Turnpike,  a  short  distance 
below  the  summit  of  the  mountain.  The  overflow 
finds  its  way  down  the  south  gully  of  the  highway ; 
soon  leaving  the  highway  it  runs  south  to  the  North- 
field  road,  and  thence  to  the  valley.  Augmented 
l^y  rivulets    from    the    mountain  side,   and    by  the 


I.  This,  and  what  follows,  upon  the  water-shed,  is  taken  from  notes  made 
twenty  or  more  years  ago,  when  this  writer's  observations  were  made.  The 
clearing  of  the  woods  in  which  the  head  springs  were,  and  on  the  high  land 
east  of  them,  and  the  consequent  grading  and  street  improvements,  together 
with  the  construction  of  houses  on  the  same,  have  dried  up  the  springs. 
Nothing  at  the  present  time  but  the  rainfall  supplies  the  diminished  bed  of  this 
tributary. 


Water   Sheds.  1 3 

drainage  from  the  Avest  slope  of  Scotland  Street  ridge, 
it  passes  tliroiigli  South  Orange,  and  thence  to  Mil- 
burn,  when  it  unites  with  the  west  branch,  which 
arises  between  the  First  and  Second  mountains,  a  lit- 
tle north  of  the  Swinefield  road,  ^ 

Opposite,  and  a  few  feet  above  the  mountain-head 
spring  of  the  east  branch  of  the  Railway  River,  which 
Ave  have  just  noted,  is  a  spring,  less  constant  in  its 
flow,  which  trickles  down  the  gully  on  the  north  side 
of  the  highway.  It  soon  leaves  the  gully  and 
descends  the  mountain  through  the  southern  limits  of 
Llewellyn  Park,  crossing  the  Valley  Road  near  the 
school  house,  and  discharges  into  WigAvam  Brook, 
which  is  the  western  tributary  to  the  Second  River, 
These  two  springs  thus  noticed,  one  hundred  feet 
apart,  mark  the  summit  of  the  watershed  at  that 
point.  The  mountain  at  these  springs  is  623  feet 
above  tide  water.  There  are  other  places  in  Orange 
equally  illustrative.  The  south-west  roof  of  St,  Mark's 
Church  sheds  its  rainfall  into  the  Staten  Island  Sound-; 
its  north-east  roof  sheds  into  the  Passaic  River  and 
Newark  Bay.  Ridge  Street  (hence  its  name)  dis- 
charges its  drainage  on  the  west  side  into  the  Rah  way, 
and  on  its  east  side  into  the  Passaic.  The  Scotland 
Street  ridge  sheds  the  rainfall  under  the  same  condi- 
tions. 

SWAMPS. 

Two  great  swamps  were  a  distinguishing  feature  in 
the  primitive  topography  of  the  mountain.  Their 
condition,  and  the  space  they  occupied  two  hundred 

I.  This  west  branch  of  the  Rahway  River  is  now  the  source  of  the  water 
supply  for  the  city  of  Orange,  the  reservoir  being  located  west  of  the  top  of 
the  first  mountain,  and  between  the  Northfield  Road  and  South  Orange 
Avenue. 


14  History  of  the  Oranges. 

years  ago,  compared  with  those  of  the  present,  afford 
a  typical  illustration  of  the  changes  of  superficial 
I)hysical  geography  wrought  out  by  human  action. 

The  lesser  of  the  two,  at  its  southern  part,  began  in 
the  low  ground  north  and  in  the  rear  of  St.  Mark' s 
Church,  occuj)ying  the  low  ground  between  the  base 
of  the  First  Mountain  and  the  upland  on  its  eastern 
side,  and  extending  to  the  Swinefield  Road,  now 
Washington  Street,  where  it  is  bounded  by  the  farm 
^^  .  of  Ira  Harrison. 

CP^a>  ■  ^^,,c^yU-<^  ^^     ^*  extended  for  a 

short    space    on 

the  south-west  side  of  his  farm,  and  on  the  east  side 
north-easterly  to  the  rear  of  Rosedale  Cemetery.  It 
passed  around  its  northern  side  and  its  eastern  bounds 
till  it  became  a  ]Dart  of  the  low  lands  west  of  Park 
Street,  near  the  ice  ponds.  The  wider  portion  of  the 
swami),  north  of  Park  Avenue,  was  bounded  by  the 
upland  on  the  south,  and  on  the  north  by  the  upland, 
the  greater  part  of  which  is  held  as  cemetery  prop- 
erty. This  high  land  being  thus  surrounded,  was 
known  as  the  "Island." 

The  three  streams  which  had  their  channels  through 
the  swamp,  and  derived  the  most  of  their  waters  there- 
from, are  the  southern  head-w\aters  of  the  Second 
River.  The  Wigwam  Brook  rose  within  the  "Crystal 
Springs,"  in  Montclair,  a  few  hundred  feet  north  of 
the  township  line.  They  were  once  lively  springs,  but 
at  the  present  time  are  dry,  or  nearly  so.  ^  Tlie  brook 
ran  south,  as  it  does  now,  to  its  union  with  a  brook  be- 
ginning at  the  springs  on  the  southern  boundary  of  the 
low  grounds,  and  which,  augmented  by  the  mountain 

I.  It  is  traditional  that  near  the  springs  was  the  habitat  of  a  few  Indians 
with  their  wigwams.  The  brook  is  thus  named  as  a  boundary  in  a  survey  to 
Matthew  Williams,   1686. 


Swatnps.  1 5 

rivulets,  so  increased  tlie  size  of  WigAvani  Brook  as  to 
make  it  sufficient  for  milling  purposes.  It  was  fur- 
ther increased  in  its  capacity  by  its  union  with  the 
Nishuyne  River,  which  rises  in  the  low  ground  oppo- 
site (east  of)  the  upper  entrance  of  Eosedale  Cemetery 
on  the  Montclair  Road,  and  ]3asses  through  the  low 
swamp  behind  and  north  of  the  Cemetery,  flowing 
into  the  main  stream  west  of  Park  Street,  which,  from 
this  point,  takes  the  name  of  Second  River.  This 
creek  runs  about  half  way  between  the  eastern  bounds 
of  the  Cemetery  and  Park  Street.  It  is  a  small  affair 
now.  We  cannot  measure  its  depth  and  breadth  as  it 
was  when  the  otter  burrowed  its  banks,  and  the  beaver 
built  their  dams.  It  was  so  called  from  the  fact  that 
an  Indian  bearing  that  name,  with  his  squaw,  both 
being  drunk,  were  swamped  in  the  water  and  quick- 
sand. Unable  to  extricate  themselves,  they  were 
drowned.  Its  crossing-place,  which  has  not  been 
changed  up  to  this  day,  was  called  the  "ferry,"  as 
those  passing  it  were  forced  to  ferry  themselves  over 
on  logs,  or  to  resort  to  a  rude  corduroy  crossing. 
"To  the  road  by  the  Nishivine  ferry"  is  a  boundary 
noted  in  the  will  of  Lewis  Crane,  1776.  Tlie  road  is 
at  present,  known  as  Dodd  Street.  ^ 

A  swamp  of  much  greater  extent  than  that  just 
described  occujiied  a  district  south  of  the  "highway 
to  the  mountain,"  now  Main  Street.  Its  western  ex- 
tremity was  north  of  Highland  Avenue,  between  the 
Scotland  Street  ridge  and  tlie  high  land  of  Centre 
Street.  It  stretched  north  toward  the  highway  and 
near  the  railroad  station,   and  thence  east,  parallel 


I.  This  minute  notice  of  this  swamp  will  be  dull  to  many  readers.  The 
author  thinks  that  they  will  justify  him  in  giving  it,  when  they  discover  the 
relation  it  bears  to  the  progressive  history  of  this  corner  of  the  mountain 
settlement. 


1 6  History   of  the  Oranges. 

with  the  highway,  to  the  nplaiid  at  the  East  Orange 
junction,  including  all  the  land  east  of  Centre  Street,  to 
that  in  the  rear  of  the  Oii)han  Asylum,  and  to  the  west- 
ern base  of  Munn  Avenue  ridge,  extending  thence  in  a 
still  wider  stretch  through  the  wide  intervening  bottom 
across  South  Orange  Avenue  to  Irvington.  Being  dense- 
ly wooded,  it  was  the  abode  of  wild  beasts.  The  higher 
portions  of  this  district  were  occuxDied  by  the  early 
I^lanters,  and  have  been  reclaimed  by  cultivation  and 
the  removal  of  the  forest.  A  large  i^art  of  the  region 
is  now  occupied  by  streets  and  dwelling  houses. 

Within  this  swamp  were  the  head  springs  of  the  Eliz- 
abeth River,  as  heretofore  noticed.  Parrow^  Brook, 
a  tributary  to  the  Second  River,  had  its  primal  springs 
a  short  distance  north  of  the  junction  of  Harrison  and 
Centre  streets.  Flowing  through  the  swamp  north,  it 
makes  a  junction  back  of  Willow  Hall,  with  a  stream 
from  the  low  land  between  Centre  and  Scotland  ridges, 
and  thence  it  runs  north  until  it  is  merged  in  Wigwam 
Brook,  at  the  corner  of  Day  and  Washington  streets. 

The  distance  from  Main  Street,  between  the  head  of 
the  Elizabeth  River,  running  south,  and  the  head  of 
Parrow  Brook,  running  north,  marks  the  width  of  the 
watershed  at  this  place. 

FLOEA   AND    FAUNA. 

The  genera  and  species  of  the  i)rimitive  forest 
growth  were  in  large  variety.  They  are  named  in  the 
order  of  their  relative  distribution.  The  oak — red, 
black,  and  white  (also  called  rock  oak),  with  pin^ 


1.  This  name  is  also  spelled  "  Perro"  and  "  Parow,"  and  is  the  same  as 
that  of  the  chief  negotiator  on  the  part  of  the  Indians  at  the  time  of  the 
purchase  of  the  land,  as  above  narrated. 

2.  So  called  because  used  for  pins  in  jointing  timbers  in  house  frames, 
and  other  like  purposes. 


Flora  and  Fauna.  17 

oak  on  the  borders  of  the  swamps.  The  chestnut  and 
hickory,  of  their  various  species  ;  the  ehn,  in  its  Amer- 
ican varieties  ;  tlie  beech  and  birch,  black  and  white ; 
ash,  black  and  white ;  and,  on  the  First  Mountain-side, 
the  tulip.  The  ash  and  tulip  have  increased  in  later 
years.  The  maple,  in  some  of  its  species,  was  of  the 
early  growth,  including  the  sugar  mai)le,  from  which 
molasses  was  occasionally  made.  This  variety  has  dis- 
apx)eared.  The  sycamore  was  quite  generally  diffused, 
growing  to  a  very  large  size.  The  gum  (pepperidge) 
known  as  bitter  gum,  and  the  sweet  gum  (liquid 
amber  styraciflua)  were  indigenous.  The  former  was 
most  common.  iN'either  is  now  frequently  met  with. 
The  bitter  gum  was  utilized  for  floors  of  barns,  two 
and  a  half  inches  thick,  and  when  sawed  into  boards 
was  used  for  other  inside  work.  It  was  also  much 
employed  for  cofRus.  When  old,  this  tree  begins  to 
decay  in  the  centre.  It  was  not  uncommon  to  fell 
a  tree,  and  cut  it  into  suitable  lengths,  and  use 
them  for  well  curbs.  Attaching  an  artificial  bottom, 
they  were  made  receptacles  for  grain'  and  other  farm 
products.  Scattered  over  the  region,  and  among  the 
trees  of  larger  growth,  the  dogwood,  wild  cherry,  the 
native  apple  and  persimmon  flourished.  No  variety  of 
the  pine  was  indigenous.  The  few  small  groves  on  the 
mountain-side,  of  the  yellow  jDine,  have  come  iip  on 
laud  early  cultivated,  worn  out  and  abandoned.  Red 
cedars  are  a  second  growth,  and  have  come  up  under 
the  same  conditions.  In  the  clearing  of  lands  of  their 
native  growth,  the  second  growth  is  chestnut.  This  is 
a  uniform  result  over  this  mountain  region. 

The  grasses  were  the  blue  grass  in  some  places,  and 
an  inferior  native  grass  in  others.  After  the  clearing 
of  land,  white  clover  not  infrequently  sprang  w.^. 
Red  clover  and  timothy,  for  hay  and  pasturage,  were 


1 8  History   of  the  Oranges. 

not  introduced  by  the  planters  until  the  beginning  of 
the  i)resent  century.  Tradition  says  that  they  were 
introduced  by  Ebenezer  Canheld,  who  had  the  best 
farm  at  the  mountain.  It  lay  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Main  Street,  beginning  a  little  east  of  the  old  road  to 
Wardsesson,  now  Prospect  Street,  and  was  next  on  the 
east  to  Moses  Jones'  land,  where  the  Calvary  (Meth- 
odist) Church  now  stands.  The  site  of  his  large  stone- 
house  is  opi:)Osite  Halstead  Street. 

Of  the  native  fruits  of  the  Newark  Mountain  we  have 
neither  record  nor  tradition.  From  Denton's  descrip- 
tion of  New  York,  written  1690,  and  Miller's  descrip- 
tion of  tlie  same,  1695,  both  of  whom  as  well  as  other 
writers  give  information  upon  this  part  of  New 
Jersey,  Ave  may  reasonably  infer  that  the  smaller  fruits 
were  native  to  its  soil,  such  as  raspberries,  currants, 
strawberries,  grapes,  x>lums,  mulberries,  persimmons, 
peaches,  apples,  quinces,  "which  are-  in  England 
planted  in  orchards  and  gardens,  and  many  more 
fruits,  which  cannot  come  to  perfection  in  England, 
are  the  more  natural  product  of  this  country."  i 

The  wild  beasts  of  the  mountain  were  the  bear,  wolf, 
panther,  elk,  deer,  together  with  the  fox,  coon,  opos- 
sum, and  the  lesser  land  animals.  The  rattlesnake 
and  copperhead  abounded.  Beaver  and  otter  had  their 
habitats  in  the  swamps.  The  wolves  were  the  most  nu- 
merous and  the  most  troublesome  to  the  settlers.  In 
their  first  agreement  is  this  item:  "the  Town  agreed 
that  any  Man  that  would  take  Pains  to  kill  Wolves,  he 
or  they,  for  their  Encouragement,  should  have  16s.  for 
every  grown  Wolf  that  they  kill,  and  this  to  be  paid 
by  the  Town  Treasury."  ^ 

1.  "A  brief  account  of  the  Province  of  East  New  Jersey,  in  America, 
Printed  in  Edinburg,  1683." 

2.  The  bounty  was  subsequently  reduced  to  12s.  per  head.  Records  of 
the  Town  of  Newark,  page  6. 


Flora  and  Fauna.  19 

They  were  sources  of  annoyance  and  alarm  to  the 
people.  Their  noses  were  not  infrequently  seen  in  the 
open  cracks  of  the  outside  doors  of  the  houses.  A 
single  howl  at  night  was  resjoonded  to  from  one  por- 
tion of  the  region  to  another,  till  it  encircled  a  wide 
neighborhood. 

Bears  were  not  so  numerous  nor  as  troublesome,  but 
sufficiently  so  to  require  the  notice  of  town  meeting, 
which,  in  1680,  offered  a  bounty  of  ten  shillings  per 
head.  They  were  seen  all  through  the  last  century, 
and  down  to  the  early  years  of  the  present.  About 
1780,  Deacon  Amos  Harrison,  on  a  certain  occasion  in 
the  autumn,  discovered  a  bear  in  an  apple  tree,  near 
the  stone  bridge  on  Oak  Bend  in  Llewellyn  Park, 
eating  of  the  fruit.  He  went  home  for  his  gun, 
and  returning,  shot  the  beast.  Finding  that  he  had 
killed  him,  he  again  went  to  his  home  (now  known  as 
Walnut  Cottage,  on  the  Yalley  Road),  harnessed  his 
team  to  a  stone  drag,  and,  bringing  the  beast  to  his 
house,  dressed  and  divided  the  carcass  among  his 
neighbors.  The  apples  of  that  tree  were  natural  fruit, 
and,  being  of  good  quality,  Mr.  Harrison  took  cut- 
tings and  grafted  a  considerable  number  of  trees  with 
them.  The  fruit  thus  became  common,  and  was 
known  as  the  Bear  Apple.  There  is  a  tradition  that 
subsequent  to  this  a  bear  was  killed  on  tlie  knoll 
where  stands  the  house  of  the  superintendent  of  Rose- 
dale  Cemetery.  The  last  one  seen  was  about,  or  a  lit- 
tle before,  1810,  in  a  field  on  the  corner  of  Commerce 
Street  and  Railroad  Avenue.  "Wlien  surprised  he  dis- 
appeared in  the  swamp. 

The  d«er  were  numerous,  and  continued,  though  in 
diminishing  numbers,  in  the  region  beyond  the  moun- 
tain, till  near  the  close  of  the  last  century.  It  was  no 
unusual  thing,  at  that  i^eriod,  for  the  settlers  over  the 


20  History  of  the  Oranges. 

mountain  to  see,  from  the  doors  of  their  houses,  the 
deer  going  to  the  springs  and  streams  to  drink.  A 
large  buck  was  known  to  traverse  the  First  Mountain 
about  1780,  He  was  an  object  of  earnest  search  for 
the  hunters,  by  whom  he  was  frequently  seen  and 
sometimes  shot  at,  but  he  was  very  sagacious  and 
always  eluded  his  pursuers.  On  one  occasion  his  foot 
was  caught  in  a  trap  which  had  been  set  for  him  ; 
from  this  he  succeeded  in  releasing  himself,  but  his 
foot  was  so  injured  that  ever  afterward  his  tracks 
were  recognized.  Thus  he  became  known  as  Old  Trap- 
foot,  and  long  lived  to  worry  the  ambition  of  the 
hunters.  There  was  living  in  the  town  one  of  that 
class  of  shiftless  boasters,  who  are  always  busy  in 
doing  next  to  nothing  for  themselves  or  others.  His 
professed  employment  was  hewing  timber  for  build- 
ing. On  a  certain  clear,  crisp  morning,  in  the  fall  of 
the  year,  he  was  going  by  the  highway  toward  the 
mountain.  As  he  passed  Capt.  Thomas  Williams'' 
house,  with  broad-axe  in  hand  and  gun  on  his  shoul- 
der, the  Captain  hailed  him  with  :  ' '  Shaw,  where  are 
you  going  now?"  "I'm  going  up  the  mountain  to 
work  at  my  trade,  and  shoot  Trapfoot."  Onward  he 
went  by  the  highway  to  the  mountain,  ascended  its 
gradual  slope  till,  having  passed  the  present  site  of 
the  upper  gate  to  the  Park,  he  came  to  the  corner  at 
the  base  of  the  trap-rock,  turning  which  he  began  his 
ascent  through  the  notch  to  the  summit.  Just  here 
in  the  centre  of  the  narrow  cart  path,  in  full  sight, 
stood  a  noble  buck.  Our  hero  levelled  his  musket  and 
shot  him  dead.  It  was  Trapfoot,  He  was  a  noble 
specimen  of  his  kind,  and  one  of  the  last  wliich  trav- 
ersed these  mountain  heights.  The  hewer  of  wood 
and  the  slayer  of  Trapfoot  achieved  renown. 

The  rattlesnake  and  copi:)erhead  were  found  through- 


Flora  and  Fauna.  2 1 

out  the  mountain  region.  They  seemed,  however,  to 
collect  in  localities.  The  level  land  on  the  north  side 
of  the  Second  River,  from  the  site  of  the  Bethel 
Church  at  Doddtown  to  the  bend  of  the  river,  was 
called  "  Rattlesnake  plain."  It  is  so  noted  in  some  of 
the  deeds  Ave  have  seen.  The  wild,  rough  spaces  on 
each  side  of  the  highway  where  Trapfoot  was  shot 
on  the  mountain,  were  known  as  "Rattlesnake  bed." 
They  abounded  on  the  bottom  lands  of  the  Passaic 
River  at  Swinefield.  This  was  so  called  from  the  cus- 
tom of  the  planters,  in  the  sx3ring  of  the  year,  to  drive 
their  s\vine  to  the  meadows  to  find  food  during  the 
summer.  The  beech  nuts,  the  rank  growth  of  grass, 
and  the  rattlesnakes  furnished  an  abundant  supply  for 
their  growth  in  fat.  To  kill  these  snakes,  they  placed 
both  their  fore  feet  upon  the  reptiles,  and  tore  them  to 
pieces  with  great  rapidity.  In  a  few  years  the  snakes 
were  exterminated  in  that  locality. 

Beavers  inhabited  these  primitive  low  lands.  As  late 
as  1780,  they  occupied  the  dense  swamp  at  the  Junc- 
tion of  Nishuine  River  and  Wigwam  Brook,  building 
their  dam  at  the  confluence  of  the  two  streams.  At 
the  union  of  the  stream  from  tlie  springs,  north  of  St. 
Mark's  Church,  with  Wigwam  Brook,  the  remains  of 
a  beaver  dam  were  apparent  to  the  early  settlers.  The 
stumps  of  trees  which  had  been  felled  by  these  an- 
imals for  damming  purposes  bore  the  marks  of  their 
teeth.  The  otter  was  seen  till  a  late  day,  and  is  now 
found  occasionally  in  the  low  grounds  of  Morris 
County. 

Vs\}  to  the  close  of  the  last  century,  the  hunter  and 
trapper  found  both  diversion  and  profit,  when  oppor- 
tunity offered  relief  from  the  less  exciting  duties  of 
farming.  Hunting  parties  from  the  town  at  the  river 
and  other  neighboring  places  frequently  visited  this 


22  History  of  the  Oranges. 

region,  camping  out  and  sj^ending  several  days  in 
search  of  bears,  wolves  and  smaller  game. 

ii^DiAisrs. 

The  number  of  Indians  belonging  to  the  Hackensack 
tribe  and  who  laid  claim  to  the  Passaic  lands  sold  to 
the  Newark  settlers,  is  believed  to  have  been  small. 
The  whole  number  in  the  Province,  at  the  time  of  its 
coming  under  the  dominion  of  the  Crown,  was,  prob- 
ably, not  more  than  two  thousand.  They  were  under 
the  rule  of  about  twenty  kings,  and  some  of  the  tribes 
numbered  less  than  fifty  souls.  Oraton  was  king  of 
the  Hackensacks,  and  Perro  claimed  proprietorship  of 
the  Passaic  lands.  ^ 

In  the  years  of  the  early  settlement  of  the  moun- 
tain, the  few  remaining  natives  of  the  soil  were  of 
vagabond  habits,  getting  a  precarious  subsistence  upon 
game,  occasional  i)atches  of  corn,  and  the  good  offices 
of  the  settlers.  A  few  wigwams  in  Tory  Corner  seem 
to  ha^'e  given  name  to  the  creek  passing  through  that 
neighborhood.  There  was  a  camp  of  Indian  families 
upon  the  Dodd  lands,  on  the  high  ground  east  of  Mid- 
land Avenue.  On  the  Crane  lands,  south  of  Northtield 
Avenue,  and  on  that  part  of  them  where  now  stands  the 
house  of  O.  S.  Carter,  was,  traditionally,  another  camp. 
When  that  house  was  being  built,  Indian  relics  were 
brought  to  the  surface  in  digging  for  its  foundation. 
This  incident  corroborated  the  tradition  that  on  that 
farm  had  been  an  Indian  habitat. 

At  or  near  Samuel  Harrison's  saw-mill  on  Wig- 
wam Brook,  about  two  hundred  yards  west  of  Day 
Street,  stood  a  very  large  tulip  tree,  which  tradition 
says  was  cut  down  by  a  company  of  Indians  for  the 


I.  See  Mr.  Whitehead's  Memoir  in  Supplement  to  Vol.  VI.  of  the  New 
Jersey  Archives,  p.  33. 


Indians.  23 

purpose  of  making  a  canoe.  In  felling  the  tree  a  cir- 
cle was  formed  around  it,  and,  singing  a  rude  song, 
they  passed  around  it,  each  in  his  turn  striking  it  with 
his  tomahawk  until  it  was  felled.  Then  taking  so 
much  of  its  trunk  as  would  serve  their  i3urj)ose  they 
commenced,  with  much  adroitness,  to  burn  it  out. 
They  were  industriously  employed  in  the  x^trocess  for 
many  days  till  it  was  nearly  completed,  when  the  com- 
pany left,  placing  it  in  charge  of  one  of  their  number, 
who,  neglecting  his  work,  allowed  a  hole  to  be  burned 
through  it.  It  was  abandoned  in  consequence.  The 
charred  trunk  lay  for  a  great  many  years  where  it  had 
fallen,  perpetuating  the  recollection  of  their  disap- 
pointment. 

Canoe  building,  which  was  a  necessity,  became  a 
source  of  profit  in  this  mountain  region.  The  natives 
carried  clams  and  oysters  to  Albany,  where  they  were 
delivered  to  the  Mohawks  as  tribute.  In  the  valley 
west  of  the  Second  Mountain  runs  a  considerable 
stream,  which  in  early  days  was  much  larger.  It 
takes  its  rise  on  the  south  line  of  Caldwell  township, 
and  running  south-west  through  Livingston  and  North- 
field  to  Chatham,  discharges  itself  into  the  Passaic. 
It  is  known  to  this  day  as  Canoe  Brooh.,  deriving  its 
name  from  the  canoes  made  on  its  shores  by  the  na- 
tives of  early  times.  They  were  made  of  the  ash  tree, 
cut  from  the  gullies  through  which  the  stream  flows. 
The  trees,  deprived  by  their  place  of  growth  of  the 
sunlight,  except  on  their  toi3s,  grew  straight  and  with- 
out lateral  branches.  The  wood  of  the  tree  is  tough 
and  light,  and  well  adapted  to  the  purposes  of  canoe 
material.  They  grew  moreover  in  great  abundance. 
When  the  canoes  were  comi)leted,  the  builders  awaited 
a  freshet  sufficient  to  float  them  down  the  stream  to 
the  Passaic  and  finally  to  the  salt  water  bays.     The 


24  History  of  the  Oranges. 

only  interri?ption  to  tliis  journey  by  water  was  from 
above  Little  Falls  to  below  the  Passaic  Falls  at  Pater- 
son,  a  distance  of  five  miles,  over  which  it  was  neces- 
sary to  carry  the  canoes. 

Opposite  Willow  Hall,  west,  but  close  to  the  brook,  in 
the  early  days  was  a  knoll,  which  abounded  in  small 
arrowheads.  They  appeared  to  have  been  made  of 
the  sharp,  dense  part  of  the  clam-shell  found  at  its 
articulation.  These  arrowheads  were  gathered  by  the 
boys  of  the  present  century,  now  among  our  old  men. 
The  knoll  was  regarded  as  the  site  of  an  Indian  dwell- 
ing place ;  possibly  that  of  Perro,  of  whose  home  in 
this  neighborhood  a  dim  tradition  exists.  Rev.  James 
Hoyt,  in  his  "History  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Orange,"  very  reasonably  infers  that  Perro' s  name 
is  perpetuated  in  the  brook  (Parrow's),  which  washed 
the  base  of  the  knoll.  Arrowheads  and  divers  relics 
of  Indian  make  are  occasionally  found  at  this  day. 

Basket  making  was  a  common  source  of  profit  among 
these  peoj)le  here,  as  it  has  been  everywhere  else  where 
they  lived,  among  their  more  industrious  and  civilized 
successors.  1     It  is  related  that  one  of  the  planters 


I.  Their  more  important  traffic  with  the  white  settlers  was  in  pelts  of  the 
beaver,  otter  and  the  lesser  water  animals,  as  well  as  of  the  wild  beasts  of  the 
forests.  Wampum  was  their  article  of  exchange.  It  was  of  two  species,  the 
black  and  the  white,  and  was  made  in  large  quantities  on  Long  Island,  which 
abounded  in  shells.  Its  fabrication  was  free  to  everybody,  and  in  nowise 
limited.  The  black  wampum  was  the  most  valuable,  and  was  made,  as  Van- 
derdonck  says  in  his  History  of  New  Netherlands,  from  the  conch  shells  taken 
from  or  cast  up  by  the  sea.  The  thin  parts  of  the  shells  were  struck  off, 
the  pillars  and  standards  preserved,  the  material  ground  smooth  and  even, 
and  reduced  according  to  its  thickness,  and  by  a  hole  drilled  through  them, 
strung  on  cord  often  made  of  sinews  of  beasts.  This  was  the  only  money  and 
medium  among  the  natives.  These  strings,  varying  in  number  and  in  value, 
were  formed  in  belts,  some  as  wide  as  a  man's  hand.  They  are  frequently 
named,  and  have  an  important  place  in  the  recorded  negotiations  and  treaties 
between  the  Indians  and  the  white  settlers.  Smith,  in  his  History  of  New 
Jersey,  page  76,  says  that  the  white  wampum  was  made  from  the  inside  of 


Indians.  25 

here  being  asked  by  an  Indian  for  rum,  replied  tliat  if 
he  would  make  a  basket  which  would  hold  rum,  he 
would  fill  it  for  him.  It  was  not  long  afterwards  that 
a  basket  of  liberal  capacity  was  brought  to  be  filled. 
The  interstices  of  it  were  treated  with  the  native  gums 
of  the  woods,  so  as  to  fulfill  the  conditions  of  the  con- 
tract. 

On  the  high  ground  south-west  of  the  Rosedale  Cem- 
etery gate,  the  remains  of  an  Indian  place  of  defence 
were  observed  in  the  first  year  of  this  century,  with  a 
trench  and  a  steep  embankment,  and  within  a  circular 
space.  In  the  earlier  days  of  our  informant  it  was 
thicldy  wooded.  The  sides  of  the  embankment  were 
so  steep  that  the  breaking  up  of  the  winter  caused 
slides,  of  which  he  had  "seen  three  or  four."  The 
site  is  now  removed  by  the  grading  of  later  times. 

On  the  land  west  of  this  locality  and  on  the  south 
siile  of  Washington  Street,  was  a  space  within  a  diam- 
eter of  about  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet,  on  which 
were  fifty  or  more  small  excavations  about  four  feet 
across.  They  were  known  by  the  i^eople  as  the  ^'  In- 
dian Barns,"  so  called  from  the  tradition  that  the  na- 
tives preserved  their  corn  during  the  winter  by  bury- 
ing it  in  the  earth.  Ira  Harrison  (living  now  at  92,) 
remembers  that  his  Uncle  Abijah  ploughed  up  this 
section  of  his  fann,  expecting  to  find  hatchets,  mor- 
tars, etc.,  such  as  the  Harrisons  found  on  their  lands 
at  Swinefield,  but  nothing  in  the  way  of  relics  was 
found. 


the  great  sea  conchs,  and  the  black  or  purple  from  the  inside  of  the  clam  or 
muscle.  Its  value,  at  first,  in  trade  with  the  whites  was  four  and  then  six 
beads  for  one  stiver,  one  penny  sterling.  In  1659,  the  purple  was  fixed  at 
eight,  the  white  at  sixteen,  which  had  previously  been  at  twelve.  In  1663, 
eight  white  or  four  black  were  equal  to  a  stiver.  This  continued  to  be  their 
value  after  the  surrender  of  the  Dutch  to  the  English.  {Documents  relating 
to  History  of  Netv  York,  II.,  pp.  344,  425.) 


26  History  of  the    Oranges. 

The  Indians  were  the  most  numerous  in  "West  Jersey. 
In  this  part  of  the  province  the  tribes  were  small, 
IDeaceable  and  not  disposed  to  w^ar.  Those  west  of  the 
Delaware  River,  and  in  the  mountains  of  Pennsylva- 
nia, were  more  warlike,  and  were  frequently  engaged 
in  contests  among  themselves.  In  their  intercourse 
with  the  English  settlers,  the  Indians  of  New  Jersey 
were  generous,  kind  and  affable ;  naturally  reserved, 
apt  to  resent  and  conceal  their  resentments,  retaining 
them  long.  They  were  very  loving  to  one  another.  If 
several  of  them  came  to  a  Christian  s  house,  and  the 
master  of  it  gave  one  of  them  victuals  and  omitted  the 
rest,  the  portion  was  equally  divided  among  the  whole 
company.  If  the  Christians  visited  them,  they  gave 
them  the  first  cut  victuals.  They  refrained  from  eating 
the  hollow  of  the  thigh  of  anything  they  killed.  Their 
chief  employment  was  hunting,  fishing  and  fowling ; 
making  canoes,  bowls  and  other  wooden  and  ejirthen 
Avare.  The  women  were  employed  chiefiy  in  raising- 
corn  and  preparing  it,  by  roasting  and  pounding  it  in 
a  mortar,  or  grinding  it  between  stones,  for  making  of 
bread. 

When  travelling  in  companies  they  walked  single 
file,  in  silence.  Two  were  very  seldom  seen  walking 
side  by  side,  thus  making  their  trail  very  narrow. 
The  man  went  before  with  his  bow  and  arrows,  the 
women  after,  not  infrequently  with  a  child  upon  her 
back,  and  other  burdens.  If  they  were  too  heavy,  the 
man  assisted  her. 

RELIGION   OF  THE   INDIANS. 

Of  their  religious  belief,  David  Brainard  in  his  diary 
says  of  them  that  their  notion  is  that  "it  was  not  the 
same  God  made  them  who  made  the  white  peo2)le,"' 
but  another,  who  commanded  them  to  live  by  hunting 


Reli^rion  of  the  Tndia7ts.  27 

and  not  to  oonfomi  to  tlie  customs  of  tlie  white  peo- 
ple. Hence,  when  they  are  desired  to  become  Chris- 
tians they  frequently  reply  that  they  "will  live  as 
their  fathers  did,"  and  go  to  their  fathers  when  they 
die.  Notwithstanding  their  traditional  l)elief,  Brain- 
ard  was  successful  in  a  remarkable  degree  in  his 
missionary  work  among  them.  Many  to  whom  he 
preached  embraced  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  and  united 
themselves  with  a  Christian  church.  The  missions 
which  he  established  at  Cranbury  and  at  Crosswicks, 
were,  doubtless,  visited  by  some  of  those  who  trav- 
ersed these  Passaic  lands  and,  perhaps,  some  brought 
to  a  saving  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  his  diary, 
November,  1745,  he  writes  thus  of  his  work  :  ' '  Twenty- 
three  of  the  Indians  have  now  professed  their  faith  in 
Christ.  Most  of  them  belonged  to  this  region  ;  a  few 
from  tlie  forks  of  the  Delaware,  ''^  *  "^  none  of 
them,  as  yet,  have  been  left  to  disgrace  their  profes- 
sion by  any  scandalous  or  unbecoming  behavior." 

The  Creator  endowed  the  Indian  race  with  a  high 
order  of  thought.  In  the  numerous  councils  during 
the  early  history  of  the  colonies,  and  in  our  subse- 
quent history  as  a  nation,  many  of  them  were  the 
peers  of  their  English  associates.  Their  native  reti- 
cence prompted  to  contemplation.  They  studied  them- 
selves, and  in  the  analysis  of  their  own  minds,  tliey 
learned  to  know  something  of  their  own  moral  nature, 
and  thus  got  a  dim  insight  into  the  attributes  of  the 
Great  Si)irit  and  their  moral  relations  to  Him.  Brain- 
erd  notices  some  cases  in  his  experiences  with  them 
which  illustrate  this.  His  teaching  was  readily  re- 
ceived by  those  who  had  felt  their  need  of  Christian 
truth.  One  said  to  him  while  discoursing:  "Now, 
that  I  like;  so  God  has  taught  me."  Thompson,  in 
his  history  of  Long  Island,  relates  the  following  inci- 


28  History   of  the  O^'anges. 

cident:  An  Indian  Sachem  on  the  east  end  of  the 
Island  visited  a  man  committed  to  prison  by  Lord 
Cornbury  for  his  religions  belief.  The  Sachem  asked 
him  if  he  was  a  Christian.  Being  told  "yea,"  he  con- 
tinned  :  ' '  And  are  they  not  Ghristians  who  Iceej^  yon 
here  ?' '  Being  told,  they  called  themselves  so,  he  said 
"Mang  manitou  (God)  looked  at  the  heart."  Taking 
a  piece  of  coal  and  drawing  a  circle  he  said,  ^Hliey 
believed  the  Great  Spirit  to  be  all  eye,  that  he  saw 
everything  ;  all  ear,  that  he  heard  everything  ;  and  all 
mind,  that  he  knew  everything." 

Teedyescnng  was  a  distinguished  king  of  one  of  the 
Delaware  tribes.  On  a  certain  occasion,  while  a  guest 
at  the  hospitable  home  of  an  excellent  member  of  the 
Society  of  Friends  in  Burlington,  he  was  seated  with 
his  host,  each  silently  indulging  in  his  own  reflections 
before  the  blazing  fire  on  the  hearth.  The  silence  was 
at  length  broken  by  the  Friend  who  said:  "I  will 
tell  thee  what  I  have  been  thinking  of  ;  I  have  been 
thinking  of  a  rule  given  by  the  Author  of  the  Christian 
religion,  which  from  its  excellence  we  call  the  Oolden 
Rule.''''  "Stop,"  said  the  Indian,  "don't  praise  it  to 
me,  tell  me  what  it  is."  "  It  is  for  one  man  to  do  to 
another,  as  he  would  have  the  other  do  to  him." 
' '  That' s  impossible.  It  cannot  be  done. ' '  Silence  then 
ensued.  Teedyescnng  looked  into  the  fire  for  a  time  ; 
then  rising  from  his  seat  he  took  his  pipe,  lighted  it 
and  walked  to  and  fro  in  the  room.  In  about  a  quar- 
ter of  an  hour  he  stood  before  the  Friend  with  a  smil- 
ing countenance,  and  taking  the  pipe  from  his  mouth 
said  :  ' '  Brother,  I  have  been  thoughtful  of  what  you 
told  me.  If  the  Great  Spirit  that  made  man  would  give 
him  a  neio  heart,  he  could  do  as  you  say,  but  not 
else."  He  had  studied  his  own  moral  nature  till  he 
had  wrought  out  the  divine  philosophy  of  the  Golden 
Eule. 


Indian  Paths.  29 

Teedyesciing  became  a  Christian  in  1749,  and  was 
baptised  l)y  the  name  of  Gideon.  Among  the  causes 
which  contributed  to  tlie  pacification  of  the  Indians 
with  the  whites  in  1758,  as  well  as  the  conclusion  of  a 
treaty  of  friendship,  ending  all  difficulties  ^A\\\  the 
Indians  in  New  Jersey,  was  the  influence  of  this  Chris- 
tian Indian  king.  ^ 

INDIAN   PATHS. 

The  only  Indian  Path  which  has  any  record  on  early 
maps  is  the  MinisinTc.  It  extended  from  the  Shrews- 
bury River  north-west,  crossing  the  Raritan  a  little 
west  of  Amboy,  and  thence  northerly  to  Minisink 
Island  in  the  Delaware.  ^  Tliis  was  the  great  path 
from  the  sea  to  Minisink,  the  Indian  council  seat. 

The  path  after  leading  through  Amboy  continued  due 
north  through  the  Short  Hills  to  the  Passaic,  over 
which  it  crossed,  where  Day's  bridge  was  built  in  1747, 
then  for  about  12  miles  to  Little  Falls,  near  which  it 
again  crossed  the  same  river  ;  thence  it  led  along  tlie 
eastern  side  of  the  valley  to  Pomi^ton  ;  and  thence  it 
followed  the  Pequannoc  toward  the  Delaware.  Its 
route  was  crooked,  as  all  Indian  paths  are.  The  bogs 
and  swamps  of  the  region  traversed  were  avoided,  and 
the  most  favorable  places  for  crossing  the  streams  and 
rivers  were  carefully  selected,  ^ 

Tlie  various  tribes  had  parts  of  the  seashore  to  which 
they  resorted  as  their  own.     The  Minisinks  held  the 


1.  See  Rev.  Dr.  Alott,  First  Century  of  Hunterdon  County.     . 

2.  See  Map  in  Elizabethtown  Bill  in  Chancery. 

3.  The  existence  of  the  great  path  at  Day's  Bridge  is  established  by  a 
survey  noticed  in  the  Elizabethtown  Bill  in  Chancery,  1747.  Its  proximity 
to  the  Short  Hills  and  the  mountain  region,  both  north  and  south  of  those 
passes,  forbid  the  belief  that  the  river  was  reached  by  any  other  route.  The 
other  points  named  are  fixed  by  the  not  infrequent  references  to  the  "  Indian 
path  "  in  deeds  and  surveys  still  preserved. 


30  History  of  the  Oranges. 

shore  at  Navesink,  the  Raritans  at  Barnegat.  These 
latter  had  their  path  (traditionally)  from  the  Raritan 
to  the  shore  by  way  of  Spotswood  and  Freehold.  The 
Burlington  path  led  across  the  county  of  Monmouth 
from  Long  Branch  and  Shrewsbury,  by  way  of  Tinton 
Falls,  through  Freehold  and  Crosswicks  to  Burlington. 

A  branch  path  from  the  Minisink  crossed  the  Rari- 
tan at  New  Brunswick,  and  continued  to  the  Delaware 
at  Trenton.  This  was  used  between  these  two  towns 
for  a  considerable  time  after  their  settlement  by  the 
English  XDeople  began. 

The  Newark  mountain  region  was  crossed  by  the 
natives  dwelling  on  the  Hudson  River  by  paths,  all  of 
which  intersected  the  Minisink.  Their  nearest  and 
most  direct  route  from  the  Hudson  to  Minisink  Island, 
was  through  the  great  notch  on  the  first  mountain, 
four  miles  north  of  Montclair,  meeting  the  main  path 
near  Little  Falls,  The  other  intersecting  paths  were 
at  Montclair,  where  the  highway  crosses  the  moun- 
tain, the  notch  at  Eagle  Rock,  the  notches  of  the  Mt. 
Pleasant  and  ISTorthfield  highways  and  the  mountain 
crossing  at  South  Orange.  All  these  routes  led  to  \h% 
Minisink,  which  was  not  more  than  six  or  seven  miles 
west  of  the  first  mountain.  They  all  crossed  the  great 
path  and  were  the  highways  of  Indian  travel  from  the 
Hudson  west,  through  the  Musconetcong  Valley  to  the 
Delaware. 


M 

^^^^M 

^0^ 

^s 

CHAPTER  II. 


TIIK  EATJLY  SETTLERS. 


THE  experiences  of  the  Newark  settlers,  in  their 
earlier  migrations  in  America,  had  taught  them 
the  methods  of  overcoming  the  difficulties  attendant 
upon  the  formation  of  a  new  settlement.  They  had 
now  possessed  themselves,  by  an  unquestionable  title, 
of  a  large  extent  of  territory  in  a  state  of  nature.  The 
Passaic  River  was  navigable  and  open  to  the  sea  ;  and, 
through  the  East  River  to  Long  Island  Sound,  with  the 
shores  of  which  they  were  familiar.  The  lands  west  of 
the  river  lying  in  meadow,  and  much  upland  sparsely 
wooded  ready  for  cultivation,  presented  an  inviting- 
site  for  immediate  occupation  as  a  town  settlement. 
Their  first  measure  to  this  end  in  1666,  was  to  divide 
the  land  in  this  part  of  their  j^urchase  into  six-acre 
lots  to  accommodate  the  heads  of  families.  The  allot- 
ments were  made  according  to  their  former  neighbor- 
hood ties  as  towns  in  the  New  Haven  Colony.  They 
were  designated  as  the  Gruilford  Quarter,  the  Milford 
Quarter,  etc.  Provisions  were  made  for  highways  and 
for  fencing  of  lots,  and,  by  a  division  of  the  meadow, 
provision  was  made  for  the  good  condition  of  their 
stock,  horses,  cattle  and  swine,  of  which  they  had 
brought  an  abundance. 


32  History   of  the  Oranges. 

The  question  sometimes  arises :  Did  they  drive 
their  stock  to  New  Jersey  from  their  former  homes  as 
Hoolier  did  in  1636,  when,  with  his  company,  he  mi- 
grated from  Cambridge  in  the  Massachusetts  Colony 
to  Hartford  ?  The  Newark  immigrants  came  in  ves- 
sels. They,  built  vessels  in  the  New  Haven  Colony, 
and  were  familiar  with  navigation.  Milford  gave 
much  attention  to  trade.  Brigs  voyaged  thence  to  the 
West  Indies,  carrying  staves,  horses  and  cattle,  as  well 
as  farm  products,  bringing,  in  return,  rum,  molasses 
and  European  goods.  Their  sloops  were  built  for  the 
coasting  trade. 

In  ten  years  the  Newark  settlers  had  provided  a  meet- 
ing house  for  the  worship  of  God,  brought  their  acres 
into  subjection,  made  for  themselves  comfortable 
homes,  established  an  ordinary  for  the  entertainment 
of  strangers  visiting  their  town,  built  a  gristmill,  pro- 
vided a  vessel  for  traffic  by  water,  established  their 
courts  and  their  system  of  magistracy,  made  provision 
for  a  schoolmaster,  laid  their  highways,  appointed 
surveyors  for  the  same,  and  taken  steps  for  the  forma- 
tion of  a  county,  which  in  1675  was  established  as 
the  County  of  Essex.  ^  Newark  was  then  the  most 
compact  town  in  the  province.  About  ten  thousand 
acres  were  taken  up  for  its  accommodation,  and  its 
outlying  plantations  covered  forty  thousand  more.  In 
1682  Newark  contained  a  hundred  families.  ^ 

The  young  men  and  maidens,  some  of  whom  had 
reached  and  many  more  were  approaching  adult  life 
when  they  came  to  Newark,  had  formed  marriage  alli- 
ances and  were  now  seeking  homes  for  themselves  on 
the  inviting-  mountain  lands.     The  settlers  had  trav- 


1.  Essex  and   Monmouth  counties  were  formed  in  the  same  year.     They 
were  the  first  erected  in  the  State. 

2.  See  Whitehead's  East  Jersey  under  the  Proprietors,  pp.  123-124. 


The  Early  Settlers.  33 

ersed  them,  and  had  learned  the  vahie  of  their  New 
Jersey  pnrchase.  They  were  ambitions  to  occnpy 
them.  An  order  was  accordingly  made  in  Town  Meet- 
ing, May  28,  1675,  to  lay  out  the  third  division.  The 
Home  lots  of  six  acres  extended  a  little  beyond  the 
line  of  High  Street  in  Newark,  as  it  is  now  laid  ont. 
All  east  of  this  was  known  and  continued  to  be  known 
till  1807,  as  the  Toion  at  the  River.  The  region  west 
to  the  top  of  the  First  Mountain  was  called  the  New- 
ark Mou]^TAT]sr.  During  the  ten  years  of  their  res- 
idence at  the  river  the  settlers  had  greatly  increased 
in  horses  and  cattle  and  other  stock,  which  were  pas- 
tured on  the  mountain  lying  in  common,  the  animals 
being  marked  or  branded,  and  recorded  in  a  book 
provided  for  the  purpose. 

In  laying  out  this  new  division  it  was  ordered  that  the 
highest  estate  should  not  exceed  forty-one  acres,  and 
the  lowest  not  less  than  twenty  ;  and  "that  this  land 
should  all  lie  common  for  pasture,  timber  and  stone, 
till  it  be  enclosed  by  fence."  The  estimate  by  the  set- 
tlers of  the  value  of  the  mountain  lands  is  made  ev- 
ident by  the  readiness  with  which  they  were  taken  up. 
It  is  manifest  that  this  division  was  a  very  popular 
measure,  and  the  lots  were  rai^idly  occupied,  many  by 
the  original  associates  and  some  by  their  children.  It 
does  not  appear  that  in  laying  out  land  the  surveyors 
were  careful  to  conform  with  any  accuracy  to  the  num- 
ber of  acres  ordered  to  be  laid  to  each  share.  They 
varied  in  amount  from  forty  to  sixty  acres. 

The  subscription  to  the  "Agreement,"  so  fundamen- 
tal in  the  estimation  of  the  associates  in  the  organiza- 
ation  of  their  town,  to  which  reference  is  made  in  a 
former  part  of  this  chapter,  was  not  long  insisted 
upon  in  the  admission  of  planters  to  town  privileges. 
In  1680,  "fourteen  years  after  the  town  was  founded, 
3 


34  History   of  the    Oranges. 

eleven  were  received  upon  the  payment  of  purcliase 
money.  No  mention  is  made  of  the  agreement.  In 
1685,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  go  from  house  to 
house  of  those  who  had  not  subscribed  to  the  Funda- 
mental Covenant,  and  to  return  their  answer  to  the 
town.  This  committee  never  reported.  In  the  next 
year  one  is  recorded  as  admitted  a  i)lanter,  "he  sub- 
mitting to  all  wholesome  orders."  From  this  time 
onward  settlers  were  admitted  without  any  reference 
to  the  covenant. 

Pastor  Pierson  was  an  old  man  when  he  came  to 
Newark.  Twelve  years  thereafter,  during  nine  of 
which  his  son  was  appointed  his  assistant  in  his  pas- 
toral work,  the  godly  old  Puritan  was  called  to  the 
heavenly  rest.  The  colony  was  prosperous  within 
itself.  It  held  a  territory  which  invited  strangers  of 
the  best  class  to  come  among  them.  An  increase  of 
planters  of  good  character,  and  the  purchase  money 
which  they  brought  in  their  hands,  secured  to  them 
lands  upon  equal  terms  with  the  associates.  The  lat- 
ter were  also  brought  into  close  relations  with  New 
York,  which  had  about  four  thousand  inhabitants, 
with  a  large  trade.  The  intercourse  of  the  Newark 
people  with  New  York,  and,  probably,  with  the  Dutch 
settlers  on  the  west  end  of  Long  Island,  was  frequent. 
We  find  the  following  "item"  illustrative  of  this  in 
the  Town  Records,  February  12, 1698  :  "Upon  a  report 
that  many  are  sick  of  the  small  pox  at  New  York, 
it  is  thought  fit  to  prohibit  persons  from  frequent 
going  thither  upon  every  small  occasion  as  formerly." 
A  committee  was  thereupon  ajDpointed  to  "consider 
whether  persons'  occasions  are  of  urgent  necessity, 
and,  as  they  find,  to  give  liberty  or  prohibit." 

A  recent  writer  says  :  "The  founders  of  Plymouth 
set  up  a  religious  community  with  commercial  pur- 


Their  Plantations.  35 

poses.  The  founders  of  New  Amsterdam  set  up  a  com- 
mercial community  npon  religious  principles,"  The 
Newark  fathers,  by  leaving  New  England,  had  separa- 
ted themselves  from  their  traditional  disputes  and  dis- 
sensions which  for  thirty  years  had  been  a  source  of 
perplexing  concern,  a  fact  of  itself  calculated,  in  the 
quiet  relations^of  their  new  home,  to  mollify  prejudices 
and  open  their  minds  to  the  acceptance  of  more  lib- 
eral views  of  civil  rights.  It  is  reasonable  to  believe 
that  their  friendly  and  intimate  relations,  so  early  es- 
tablished with  their  prosperous  Dutch  neighbors,  in 
connection  with  the  satisfactory  condition  of  their 
town  in  its  religious,  moral  and  worldly  progress, 
shaped  anew  their  methods  of  conducting  its  affairs 
^'- According  to  God  and  a  Godly  Governments 

It  is  not  to  be  understood  that  those  admitted  as 
planters  without  signing  the  Fundamental  Covenant 
were  not  the  equals  of  the  original  associates  in  relig- 
ious principle  and  high  purpose  as  exemplary  citizens. 
They,  too,  became  the  honored  fathers  of  this  moun- 
tain region.  It  is  honored  stiU  by  their  numerous  pos- 
terity. This  fact  is  illustrated  when  we  name  the  fam- 
ilies of  Williams,  Condit,  Peck,  Pierson,  Munn,  Free- 
man, Wheeler,  Ogden,  Hedden,  with  as  many  more 
equally  worthy.  Newark  was  constantly  drawing  in- 
creasing numbers  from  New  England  and  Long  Island. 

THEIR   PLANTATIONS. 

Having  now  in  some  degree  illustrated  the  natural 
surroundings  and  resources  of  the  mountain  planters, 
we  may  look  into  their  methods  and  their  progressive 
growth  as  a  community.  They  were  a  robust,  God- 
fearing yeomanry;  men  of  good  estate,  trained  by 
their  traditions  to  freedom  of  thought,  self-reliant  in 
the  management  of  [^affairs,   and  fortified  in  this  by 


36  History   of  the  Oranges. 

high  moral  and  religions  purpose.  Macanlay,  in  his 
History  of  England,  refers  to  the  fact  that  at  the  time 
of  the  accession  to  the  throne  of  James  I.,  (1685),  many 
thousands  of  sqnare  miles  in  England,  now  rich  in 
corn  land  and  meadow,  dotted  with  villages  and  coun- 
try seats,  were  moors  overgrown  with  furze,  and  fens 
abandoned  to  wild  ducks.  Straggling  huts,  built  of 
wood  and  covered  with  thatch,  where  are  now  manu- 
facturing towns  and  seaports.  A  large  part  of  the 
country  beyond  Trent  was,  down  to  the  eighteenth 
century,  in  a  state  of  barbarism.  Agriculture  was  in 
a  very  rude  and  imperfect  state.  The  arable  land  and 
pasture  were  not  supposed  to  amount  to  much  more 
than  half  the  area  of  the  kingdom.  The  remainder 
consisted  of  moor,  forest  and  fen.  Deer  in  many  parts 
by  thousands  wandered  as  free  as  in  our  own  primitive 
American  forests.  Wild  beasts  of  large  size  were  nu- 
merous. On  one  occasion.  Queen  Anne,  on  her  way  to 
Portsmouth,  saw  a  herd  of  no  less  than  500  deer. 
The  horse,  sheep  and  ox  were  diminutive,  and  at 
the  beginning  of  cold  weather,  when  the  grass  became 
scanty,  sheep  and  oxen  were  killed  and  salted  in  great 
numbers.  During  several  months  of  the  year  even  the 
gentry  scarcely  tasted  any  fresh  animal  food,  excei)t 
game  and  river  fish.  The  yeomanry  did  not  eat  meat 
except  on  sj^ecial  occasions.  King,  in  his  natural  and 
political  conclusions,  roughly  estimated  the  common 
peojDle  of  England  at  880,000  families.  Of  these  fam- 
ilies, 440,000,  according  to  him,  ate  animal  food  twice 
a  week.  The  remaining  440,000  ate  it  not  at  all,  or  at 
most,  not  oftener  than  once  a  week.  The  abode  of  the 
lord  of  the  manor  of  the  seventeenth  century  was  with- 
out decoration.  "The  litter  of  the  farmyard  gathered 
under  the  windows  of  his  bed  chamber,  and  the  cab- 
bages and  gooseberry  bushes  grew  close  to  his  hall 


Their  Plantations.  37 

door.  His  table  was  loaded  with  coarse  plenty,  and 
strong  beer  was  the  ordinary  beverage."  ^ 

In  striking  contrast  with  the  condition  of  the  yeo- 
manry of  the  mother  country,  in  the  last  years  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  we  contemplate  that  of  the  free- 
liolders  of  the  Newark  Mountain  plantations  in  i\i.id 
early  years  of  the  eighteenth.  Their  acres,  and  enough 
of  them  for  all  their  needs,  were  subdued.  Their 
horses^  and  cattle  and  sheep  abounded,  finding  pas- 
tures not  only  within  the  enclosures  of  their  planta- 
tions, but  on  the  common  lands.  The  temporary 
homes  first  erected,  had  given  place  to  commodious 
houses  of  timber,  and  not  a  few  of  stone.  Their 
apple  orchards  were  everywhere  adorning  their  lands. 
Their  cereals  furnished  them  bread,  their  lesser  plant- 
ings vegetables,  and  the  spontaneous  growth  of  the 
smaller  fruits  added  healthful  luxuries  to  their  diet. 
Their  herds  and  jDoultry  furnished  animal  food,  and 
the  wool  of  the  flock,  and  the  flax  of  the  field  met  all 
the  necessary  demands  for  their  clothing. 

The  facilities  of  land  culture  in  the  days  of  the 
Newark  fathers  were  in  contrast  with  those  of  our  day. 
The  draught  work  was  done  by  carts  drawn  by  oxen. 
They  had  no  wagons.  Sleds  and  drags,  drawn  gener- 
ally by  horses,  were-  used  for  light  work.  The  soil 
was  broken  up  by  the  old  English  plow,  with  an  iron 
share  and  wooden  mould  board.     The  highways  were 


1.  We  discover  in  these  facts  the  reason  why  the  early  letters  sent  by  the 
first  New  Jersey  emigrants  to  their  friends  in  the  old  country  so  particularly 
notice  the  abundant  supply  of  beef,  poultry,  mutton  and  pork,  as  also  shell 
and  other  fish  in  the  salt  water  bays  and  rivers.  The  good  houses  to  dwell 
in  are  also  frequently  noticed. 

2.  Horses  were  first  imported  by  the  Dutch  in  1625,  to  New  Amsterdam, 
also  cattle  and  other  domestic  animals.  Cattle  were  imported  in  the  Mass- 
achusetts Colony  in  1635. 


38  History  of  the  Oranges. 

passages  for  ox  carts.     No  carriage  of  any  other  sojt 
was  in  use  till  many  years  afterwards.  ^ 

Horses  were  in  universal  use  for  riding  by  both  sexes. 
They  carried  often  two  persons  and  sometimes  three. 
Deacon  Amos  Harrison  went  thus  to  church  with  his 

wife  and  twin  children, 
Jt^yi^"^^  ^^/o<K-y^!^<7ri  each  one  bearing  a  child 

in  arms.  Bethuel  Pier- 
son  came  weekly,  with  his  wife  and  daughter  on  one 
horse,  from  South  Orange,  to  attend  an  evening  re- 
ligious meeting  at  Wardsesson. 

A  diary  kept  from  1772  to  1778,  by  Jemima  Cundict, 
a  bright  belle  in  the  Second  Valley,  describes  a  visit  to 
her  made  by  one  of  her  admirers.  He  came  on  horse- 
back, and  invited  her  to  ride  to  Elizabethtown,  a  dis- 
tance of  nine  miles  from  her  home.  The  pleasure  thus 
proffered  was  declined,  notwithstanding  his  impor- 
tunity, and  she  closes  her  account  of  his  visit  thus : 
"So  he  went  off  gentlemanly  like,  but  I  thought,  when 
he  got  on  his  little  nag,  that  he  did  not  want  a  button 
behind  him  for  he  almost  covered  him  himself." 

THEIE  APPLE  ORCHAEDS. 

The  apple  is  indigenous  to  New  Jersey.  The  Newark 
Moiintain  seems  to  have  been  adapted  to  its  growth. 
A  place,  "commonly  called  the  crab  orchard,''''  was 
a  boundary  monument  in  a  deed  dated  1702.  Its 
locality  was  a  little  north-east  of  the  Rosedale  Cem- 
etery. The  cultivation  of  the  fruit  began  with  the 
settlement  of  the  town.     "The  first  row  of  apple- 


I.  The  first  farm  wagon  at  the  mountain  was  introduced  by  Aaron  Harri- 
son in  1812,  and  the  first  one-horse  wagon  by  his  son,  Ira  Harrison.  This 
latter  was  quite  a  popular  improvement.  It  was  sent  for  on  funeral  occa- 
sions, and  was  freely  loaned  to  the  people  till  a  hearse  was  built  by  the  Rose- 
dale  Cemetery  Co. ,  and  brought  into  use. 


Their  Saw- Mills.  39 

tr^s"  is  noted  in  the  Town  Records,  1678,  as  bound- 
ing land.  1 

As  the  lands  were  cleared  the  orchard  was  i^lanted, 
and  in  a  few  years  became  a  feature  on  every  farm. 
In  the  time  of  blossoms  the  whole  country  was  like  a 
flower  garden. 

The  young  trees  came  from  the  seeds  which  germi- 
nated in  the  droppings  of  the  cattle  "that  had  fed 
upon  the  fruit  in  the  pastures  of  the  woods.  The 
young  plants  were  carefully  collected  and  their  growth 
cherished  till  they  were  fit  for  orchard  planting.  Cul- 
tivation greatly  im^^roved  the  fruit.  It  was  the  only 
method  of  improvement,  and  served  the  use  of  the 
people  until  the  close  of  the  last  century,  when  graft- 
ing was  introduced.  Some  of  the  best  apples  known 
originated  in  this  region.  The  growth  of  the  apple 
tree  is  slow,  and  it  comes  late  into  bearing.  That  the 
soil  and  climate  were  favorable  in  a  peculiar  degree  to 
its  speedy  maturity,  api^ears  from  the  fact  that  in  a 
description  of  Newark  in  1700,  we  read  :  ' '  The  town 
of  Newark  alone  in  one  year  made  ready  a  thousand 
barrels  of  good  cyder  out  of  the  orchards  of  their 
own  planting." 

After  the  time  of  apple  harvest,  cider  was  as  free, 
practically,  as  water,  and  more  frequently  offered  to 
quench  thirst.  It  was  sent  everywhere,  shipped  largely 
to  southern  ports,  and  became  for  a  century  or  more 
a  large  source  of  revenue  to  the  people. 

THEIE  SAW-MILLS. 

The  first  saw-mill  was  built  in  1695. 2  It  was  on  a 
stream  near  the  town  at  the  river.     The  next  was  on 


1.  The  settlers  having  come  from  their  well-tilled  farms  in  the  New 
Haven  Colony,  it  is  reasonable  to  infer  that  they  brought  with  them  young 
trees  for  their  first  planting. 

2.  See  Newark  Town  Records,  p.  io8. 


40  History  of  the  Oranges. 

the  Rahway  River  a  short  distance  below  South  Or- 
ange, 1718.  Samuel  Harrison's  saw-mill  was  in  oper- 
ation in  1727,  as  appears  by  charges  in  his  account 
book.  How  much  earlier  is  not  known.  It  was  built 
on  Wigwam  Brook,  a  few  hundred  yards  west  of  Day 
Street.  It  continued  in  operation  during  the  most  of 
the  years  of  the  last  century.  ^ 

Another  saw  mill,  possibly  as  old  as  the  last  men- 
tioned, was  the  Dodd  Mill ;  this  was  located  a  short 
distance  north  of  Dodd  Street,  near  Glenwood  Avenue, 
and  was  the  last  in  use  in  this  part  of  the  town.  It  is 
impossible  to  state  when  or  by  whom  this  mill  was 
erected,  but  it  had  been  in  the  possession  of  and 
operated  by  the  various  members  of  the  Dodd  family 
certainly  for  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  years 
before  it  was  demolished  in  1886.  This  old  mill  occu- 
pied almost  the  position  of  the  building  now  used  for 
the  Sewage  Disposal  Works  of  East  Orange. 

buildijStg  materials. 
The  timber  used  in  buildings  was  hewn,  and  often  with 
great  skill.  The  shingles  for  roofing,  and  frequently 
for  siding,  were  obtained  from  the  cedar  logs  on  the 
meadows  between  the  Passaic  and  Hackensack  Rivers. 
The  remains  of  the  ancient  forest  there  are  still  to  be 
seen  from  the  railroad  cars  as  the  traveller  passes  over 
them.  The  lime  which  was  used  for  building  purposes 
was  made  from  the  shells  which  abounded  on  the  coast, 
and  which  were  found  in  numerous  places  in  immense 
deposits  made  by  the  natives.  The  stone  used  was 
not  quarried.  It  was  gathered  from  the  surface, 
roughly  dressed,  or  split,  if  its  formation  admitted. 
The  nails  in  use  were  wrought  at  the  forge.  A  brook, 
known  as  Nailor's  Brook,  on  the  farm  east  of  Soverel's 

I.  The  dam  which  was  built  for  the  mill  flooded  the  swamp  west  of  it,  and 
killed  the  thick  growth  of  timber  upon  it.  The  result  of  thus  exposing  the 
low  grounds  to  the  sun  and  air  is  alluded  to  in  the  chapter  on  Topography. 


Home  Life.  41 

ice  houses,  derived  its  name  from  the  nails  and  spikes 
made  in  that  immediate  vicinity.  From  an  item  in  the 
Town  Records,  April  17,  1669,  concerning  a  provision 
for  nails  for  the  "closing  of  the  Meeting  House,"  we 
infer  that  a  forge  was  an  appendage  to  other  farm  ap- 
pointments, and  that  nails  were  home-made. 

HOME    LIFE. 

The  houses  were  not  usually  built  with  cellars.  It 
was  only  deemed  necessary  to  excavate  a  space  under 
the  building  of  a  size  corresponding  to  the  needs  of  the 
family  for  the  preservation  of  their  winter  vegetable 
stores.  It  was  reached  by  a  trap  door  in  the  lioor  of 
the  house.  In  the  Revolutionary  war  this  proved  to 
be  a  convenient  jDlace  to  secrete  valuables,  when  the 
houses  were  visited  by  the  Hessian  soldiers  for  plun- 
der. This  writer  has  been  a  visitor  at  a  house,  where, 
during  the  war,  the  family  warned  of  the  approach  of 
these  enemies  to  their  peace,  stored  their  feather  beds 
and  other  valuables  in  the  big  hole  under  the  floor. 
When  the  British  mercenaries  arrived,  they  raised  the 
trap  door  and  seeing  the  beds  and  other  things,  seized 
the  dye-pot  which  was  at  hand  and  emptied  the  con- 
tents upon  them.  Among  other  articles  deposited 
were  a  Bible  and  hymn-book.  These  dye-stained 
relics  were  preserved  in  the  family. 

The  most  of  the  houses  were  of  one-story ;  some  were 
two-stories  in  front  and  one  in  the  rear.  A  large  room 
on  the  ground  floor  was  the  living  room,  parlor  and 
kitchen.  The  fire-place  was  capacious,  large  enough 
to  admit  a  back-log  of  wood  eight  feet  long,  drawn  to 
its  i^lace  by  a  horse.  ^ 


I.  Calvin  Dodd,  who  died  a  few  years  since  at  an  advanced  age,  remem- 
bered tlie  frequent  pleasure  he  derived,  when  a  boy,  by  riding  into  the  house 
on  logs  intended  for  the  family  fire. 


42  History  of  the  Oranges. 

The  furniture  of  this  chief  room  was  quite  primitive, 
and  as  simple  as  were  the  habits  of  the  frugal  owners. 
The  table  for  family  use  was  so  constructed  as  to  admit 
of  being  turned,  or  folded,  to  form  a  long  seat  on  the 
side  of  the  room.  A  convenient  and  usually  coveted 
seat  was  furnished  beside  the  fire-place,  by  the  dye- 
pot,  one  of  the  first  articles  provided  in  house-keeping. 
This  was  made  o^  wood,  strongly  bound  with  hoops, 
low  and  covered  with  a  well-fitting  lid,  ornamented 
often  with  a  cushion.  ^  The  dresser  was  one  of  the 
ornaments  of  the  room.  On  it  were  arranged  the  table 
furnishings  when  not  in  use.  They  were  very  plain 
but  enduring,  and  not  much  liable  to  breakage,  for  the 
plates  and  trenchers  were  of  wood,  turned,  oftentimes 
quite  artistically.  The  drinking  cups,  which  were  in 
common  use,  were  made  of  gourds.  Pewter  plates 
and  vessels  came  into  use  later  in  the  century,  and, 
being  carefully  polished,  added  to  the  attractions  of 
the  home. 

Tlie  spinning-wheel  formed  a  feature  in  the  furniture 
of  all  these  mountain  homes.  Much  taste  was  be- 
stowed upon  this  important  instrument  of  the  house- 
hold. It  was  made  of  hard  wood,  chiefiy  of  white  oak, 
and,  sometimes  of  cherry,  ornamentally  turned.  The 
art  of  turning  in  wood  was  honorable  and  profitable. 
John  Ward,  ''the  Turner,"  and  John  Ward,  Jr.,  "the 
Turner,"  were  prominent  men  in  their  day.  A  turn- 
ing mill  was  built,  and  operated  by  water  power  very 
early  in  the  eighteenth  century,  on  Nailor's  Brook, 
east  of  Soverel's  ice  houses,  of  which  mention  has  been 
made. 

All  the  fabrics  for  wearing  apparel  and  for  home 


I.  The  dyes  used  for  domestic  fabrics  were  obtained  from  sumac,  bark  of 
the  black  oak,  chestnut  and  other  trees.  Imported  dyes  were  an  important 
article  of  commerce  in  New  York. 


Home  Life.  43 

comforts  were  homespun.     The  llax  was  converted  into 
linen,  and  the  wool  into  garments.     A  suit  of  clothes 
could  only  be  had  by  long  and  industrious  preparatory 
eilort.     The  sheep  must  be  sheared,  the  wool  cleansed 
and  carded,  the  thread  spun  by  busy  hands  at  the 
spinning-wheel,  and  made  ready  for  the  loom,  which, 
in  its  turn,  committed  it  to  the  fulling  mill,  the  dye- 
pot  and  the  dressing  process.     In  six^months  from  the 
first  steps  in  the  process,  the  cloth  was  made  ready  for 
the  tailor,  who  went  from  house  to  house  to  ply  his 
trade.     During  all  the  last  century,  and  in  the  early 
part  of  this,  homespun  was  universally  worn.     A  suit 
of  English  broadcloth  was  rarely  seen.     Dr.  Wither- 
spoon,  who  died  in  1794,   in  his  description  of  New 
Jersey,  remarks  that  "it  may  be  depended  on  that 
there  is  not  one  in  ten  of  the  members  of  the  Legisla- 
ture who  is  not  clothed  in  the  manufacture  of  his  own 
family,  for  the  greater  part ;  and  many  of  them  have 
no  other  clothing  of  any  kind."     Says  another  au- 
thority :     "  Time  was  when  the  proper  care  of  the  flax 
crop  could  take  all  the  farmers'  year,  not  to  speak  of 
weaving,  bleaching  and  dyeing,  which  was  often  done 
after  he  and  his  boys  had  sown  the  seed  for  the  next 
year' s  round  of  toil. ' '     Boots  and  shoes  were  also  made 
at  the  homes  of  the  people  by  the  makers  of  them, 
itinerating  from  house  to  house,  the  material  being 
furnished  to  their  hand. 

There  was  little  call  for  shops  in  such  a  community. 
The  few  articles  not  produced  by  the  people  them- 
selves, stich  as  hardware,  ploughshares,  leather,  etc., 
were  kept  in  small  stock  by  some  farmer  of  the  neigh- 
borhood who  opened  his  store  upon  call.  The  people, 
from  the  beginning  of  the  settlement,  were  in  commu- 
nication with  New  York.  Here  were  obtained  such 
groceries  as  coffee,  tea,  spices,  etc.,  when  needed;  sugar 


44  History  of  the  Oranges. 

and  molasses  were  made  from  the  sugar  maple ;  and 
honey  was  largely  produced,  the  best  of  which  was 
made  from  white  clov^er.  Denton,  an  early  historian, 
speaking  of  trade  in  New  York,  says  that  "the  coun- 
try is  full  of  all  sorts  of  cattle,  for  which  any  sort  of 
English  goods,  as,  likewise,  instruments  of  husbandry 
and  building,  with  nails,  hinges,  glass  and  the  like," 
may  be  had.  He  further  says  :  "You  shall  scarce  find 
a  house  but  the  south  side  of  it  is  begirt  with  hives 
of  bees,  which  increase  after  an  incredible  manner." 

The  sheep,  which  were  brought  with  other  stock  at 
the  first,  increased  to  such  a  degree,  and  had  become  so 
valuable  a  species  of  plantation  property  that,  in  1704, 
it  was  voted  by  the  town^  "that  there  should  be  a 
shepherd  hired  for  to  keep  the  sheep."  Four  sheep 
masters  were  appointed  to  act  for  the  township,  who 
should  hire  the  shepherd,  and  have  a  general  super- 
vision of  the  flocks  which  ran  at  large  on  the  common 
lands,  each  owner  having  his  prop)er  mark,  as  he  was 
required  to  have  for  his  horses,  cattle  and  swine,  which 
were  duly  recorded.  For  the  further  protection  of  the 
owners  and  the  preservation  of  the  sheep,  a  tax  on 
dogs  was  enacted  at  a  later  day,  providing  that  the 
assessors  of  the  township  when  laying  the  other  taxes, 
should  assess  the  following  sums,  viz :  "  If  one  dog  is 
kept  by  one  family,  one  dollar.  If  two  dogs  are  so 
kept,  five  dollars,  and  for  every  dog  so  kept  above  two, 
the  further  sum  of  twenty  dollars."  A  heavy  penalty 
was,  by  the  act,  inflicted  upon  the  owner  of  a  dog 
proved  to  have  wounded  or  killed  a  sheep,  and  a  for- 
feit of  thirty  dollars,  if  the  dog  was  not  killed  within 
forty  eight  hours.  We  suppose  this  measure  for  the 
protection  of  sheep  to  be  the  origin  of  our  dog  tax  of 
the  present  day. 

I.   See  Newark  Town  Records,  p.  117. 


CHAPTER    III 


EARLY   ROADS. 


THE  first  public  statute  passed  by  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Province  of  East  Jersey,  made 
provision  for  the  laying  out  and  improvement  of  roads. 
This  was  in  November,  1675,  and  thereafter  two  men 
were  required  to  be  appointed  in  each  town  for  the 
laying  out  of  new  highways.  In  March,  168f, 
another  law  was  enacted,  creating  the  office  of  com- 
missioners, for  the  special  purpose  of  making  and 
settling  highways,  passages,  landings,  bridges  and 
ferries,  in  the  three  counties  of  Essex,  Bergen  and 
Middlesex.  ^ 

In  the  Newark  settlement  a  sufficient  number  of 
highways  had  been  opened  near  the  river,  at  an  early 
day,  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  occupying  "the 
Home  Lotts."  But  the  planters  at  the  Mountain,  who 
still  retained  their  town  residences,  insisted  upon 
greater  facilities  of  communication  between  their 
homes  and  their  plantations.  They  were  entirely 
dependent  upon  the  original  Indian  "paths."  And 
they  procured  the  passage  of  a  resolution  by  the  Town 
Meeting,  on  December  12,  1681,  "That  there  shall  be 
Surveyors  chosen  to  lay  out  Highways  as  far  as  the 


I.    See  Grants,  Concessions,  etc.,  of  the  Province  of  New  Jersey,  p.  256. 


46  History  of  the  Oranges. 

Mountain,  if  need  be."  The  surveyors  were  chosen  at 
the  same  time  ;  but  the  new  roads  were  not  laid  out, 
or,  if  laid  out,  were  not  built.  It  was  easier  to  obtain 
the  favorable  vote  of  their  friends  and  neighbors,  than 
to  have  action  under  it.  And  so  the  old  "paths"  con- 
tinued ;  widened,  perhaps,  for  the  passage  of  an  ox- 
team  ;  but  always  straggling,  rudely-made,  and  im- 
perfectly kept.  Meanwhile  the  number  of  the  plan- 
tations was  rapidly  increasing ;  they  reached  from 
Bloomfield  and  Cranetown  (now  Montclair)  on  the 
north,  to  South  Orange.  There  was  frequent  occasion 
for  the  planters  to  visit  each  other ;  and  on  the  Sab- 
bath and  Town  Meeting  day,  at  least,  it  was  necessary 
for  them  to  repair  to  the  "Towne  by  the  River." 
And  their  demand  for  proper  highways  gradually 
became  louder,  and  more  and  more  persistent. 

Suddenly  in  1705,  the  other  settlers  were  awakened  to 
a  proper  sense  of  their  neglect,  and,  as  is  usual  in  such 
cases,  sought  to  make  ample  atonement  therefor  by 
extraordinary  and  unnecessary  activity.  On  a  single 
day,  the  commissioners  laid  out  and  recorded  twelve 
new  highways,  of  which  seven  were  in  the  Mountain 
district.  In  the  public  records  of  our  county,  we  find 
tlie  following  entry  :   ^ 

"High-Ways  and  Roads  laid  out  by  the  Commis'rs 
for  Newark  in  the  County  of  Essex,  8th  Oct.,  1705. 

"First  a  Road  from  Town  to  the  Foot  of  the  Moun- 
tain, or  Wheeler's,  as  the  Path  now  runs,  as  streight 
as  the  Ground  will  allow. 

"An  other  Road  from  said  Road  South,  by  a  line  of 
mark'd  trees,  to  Joseph  Riggs  House. 

"An  other  Road  from  said  Riggs  to  Town,  to  run  by  a 
path  as  streight  as  may  be,  and  by  a  Line  of  mark'd 
Trees,  from  first  mention' d  Road  North,  at  Foot  of 
said  Mountain. 


I.    Book  A  of  Essex  Co.  Roads,  pp.  5-7. 


Earlv   Roads 


Early  Roads.  47 

"An  other  Road  running  by  a  line  of  marked  Trees 
unto  Anthony  Olieve's  House. 

''An  other  Road  running  from  s'd  Anthony's  House 
to  first  mention' d  Road,  by  a  Line  of  mark'd  Trees 
and  path  to  the  other  Road  running  from  s'd  An- 
tliony's  Road  to  Caleb  Ball's  House,  by  path  and 
marked  Trees. 

"An  other  Road  running  N.  E.  from  s'd  Road  to 
Town,  by  a  path  and  Nuttman's  line. 

'  'An  other  High-way  from  the  way  at  the  Foot  of  the 
Mountain,  running  up  to  the  top  of  the  Mountain, 
beginning  on  the  North  side  of  Amos  Williams 
House  ;  thence  in  the  line  between  Amos  and  John 
Johnson  as  near  as  may  be  to  Rocks,  North  to  the 
Notch." 

It  must  be  confessed  that  it  is  not  possible  to  locate 
all  of  these  several  roads  with  certainty.  And,  yet, 
tradition  helps  us  somewhat. 

The  one  which  is  first  described,  that  is :   "  from 

Town  to  the  Foot  of  the  Mountain,  or  Wheeler's," 

was  probably  almost  identical  with  the  "Crane  road  " 

in   Newark,   and  our  existing  Main   Street  in    East 

/  Orange  and  Orange,  and  a 

//^ryoc,r  (SCl/l^    part  of   Northlield  Avenue 

Tj/     V^     ^  between  St.  Mark's  Church 

and  the  Heckscher  home- 
stead ill  West  Orange.  The  Crane  road  began  at  the 
head  of  Market  street,  near  the  present  Court-House, 
in  Newark,  and  passed  the  residence  of  Jasper  Crane 
at  High  Street,  and  ran  thence  through  the  present 
Warren  Street  to  Roseville.  The  name  of  Crane  road 
was  given  in  compliment  to  Mr.  Crane.  In  the  west- 
ern section,  the  only  change  tliat  iias  been  made  in  the 
location  of  the  road  since  1705,  is  for  the  distance  of  a 
few  hundred  feet  at  Great  Meadow  Brook.  The  ter- 
minal point  was  Nathaniel  Wheeler's,  at  "the  Foot  of 


48  History  of  the  Oranges. 

the  Mountain  " :  being  the  property  now  occupied  by 
_^  ^  Mrs.  Georgia naL. 

^a  lA^"-^^  y\J'^e^fi^dr^  Heckscher.      His 

house  is  said  to 
have  been  built  in  the  south-eastern  corner  of  the  tract. 

The  language  of  the  commissioners'  return  of  the 
road,  to  wit:  that  it  is  to  be  laid  out  "as  the  Path 
now  runs,  as  streight  as  the  Ground  will  allow,"  ex- 
plains the  curiously  winding  and  indirect  course  of  the 
existing  highway.  It  occupies  the  original  Indian 
trail,  and  turns  to  the  right  or  to  the  left  just  as  the 
natives  had  deviated  from  a  straight  line,  in  order  to 
avoid  the  bushes  and  swamps  which  lined  its  course 
as  recently  as  the  beginning  of  the  present  century. 

The  second  road  is  also  easily  ascertained.  It  ran  from 
the  main  road — that  is,  the  one  from  the  Town  to 
Wheeler's —  "South,  by  a  line  of  mark'd  Trees  to 
Joseph  Riggs'  House."  Tradition  says  that  its  start- 
ing-point was  at  or  near  Wheeler's  house,  and  that  it 
proceeded  southwardly  in  a  straight  course  to  the  cor- 
ner near  the  present  dwelling-house  belonging  to  Mrs. 
Jeptha  B.  Lindsley ;  and  thence,  following  the  line  of 
the  existing  Yalley  Road  and  Ridgewood  Road,  to 
the  present  South  Orange  Avenue,  at  a  point  opposite 
the  Church  of  the  Holy  Communion.  The  stone  house 
of  Joseph   Riggs   stood    on    the 

//f.  J  '/a^-;^^  north-westerly  corner  of  Ridge- 
^y^  wood  Road  and  South  Orange 
Avenue,  on  the  lot  now  occupied 
by  the  rectory  of  the  said  church.  Soon  after  1800, 
and  for  a  reason  now  forgotten,  the  first  section  of 
the  road  was  abandoned,  and  was  laid  out  anew  in 
such  manner  as  to  begin  at  a  point  near  St.  Mark's 
Church,  and  to  proceed  to  the  Lindsley  corner  by  the 
winding  course  now  occupied  therefor. 


Early  Roads.  49 

There  is  no  difficulty  in  understanding  the  first  part 
of  the  descriiDtion  of  the  third  road.  It  was  intended 
to  run  "  from  said  Riggs'  [House]  to  Town."  That  is 
clearly  the  existing  South  Orange  Avenue.  But  no 
man  may  positively  interpret  the  meaning  of  the 
words  which  follow :  ' '  and,  by  a  Line  of  mark'  d 
Trees  from  first-mention' d  Road  North,  at  Foot  of  said 
Mountain."  The  "first-mentioned  Road "  is  the  road 
from  Town  to  Wheeler's.  Can  it  be  that  the  words  in 
question  refer  to  another  road,  which  was  to  be  laid 
out  from  the  main  road  northwardly  to  Tory  Corner, 
or  Williamsville  ?  This  would  naturally  be  over  the 
ground  now  occupied  by  Valley  Road.  But  there  was 
then  a  big  swamp  there,  which  interfered  with  road- 
making.  And  it  is  stated  that  the  first  Valley  Road 
was  not  made  until  after  1750.  Perhaps,  it  was  "laid 
out"  in  1705,  but  not  "opened"  and  worked  until 
the  actual  growth  of  the  neighborhood  demanded  it. 

T\\Q  fourtli  road  "unto  Anthony  Olieve's  House" 
probably  started  at  a  point  near  Nathaniel  Wheeler's 
(on  the  Heckscher  tract),  and  ran  in  an  irregular  man- 
ner to  the  Oliff  house,  contiguous  to  the  present  Oak 
y        a  r         Bend  in  Llewellyn 

l^y^'^tJ^^^^        <^^^Park.    It  may  have 
C7  \      been  the  original  of 

the  private  road  now  leading  into  Hutton  Park.  At 
all  events,  it  could  not  have  been  needed  in  1705 
for  a  public  way.  And,  when  the  Olifl'  house  was 
abandoned,  the  upper  part  of  the  road  might  have  boen 
disused,  and  at  length  closed  up  by  general  consent. 

We  do  not  know  where  to  place  the  jifi^  I'oad.  It 
is  described  as  "  running  from  s'd  Anthony's  House 
to  first-mention' d  Road,  by  a  Line  of  mark'd  Trees 
and  path,  to  the  other  Road  running  from  s'd  An- 
thony's Road  to  Caleb  Ball's  House,  by  Path  and 
4 


50  History  of  the    Oranges. 

marked  Trees."  Now,. it  is  certain  that,  in  1704, 
Edward  Ball  conveyed  to  his  son  Caleb  a  tract  of  land 
containing  fifty  acres,  and  lying  north  of  the  lot  of 
Azariah  Crane.  One  of  Mr.  Crane's  farms  was  situa- 
ted in  CranetoAvn  (now  Montclair),  and  it  is  possible 
that  Caleb  Ball' s  residence  adjoined  it,  on  the  north. 
If  so,  we  may  be  justified  in  supposing  that  the  fifth- 
described  road  had  its  initial-point  at  Anthony  Oliff'  s 
house,  and  ran  thence  in  a  northwardly  direction  to 
Caleb  Ball's  house  in  Cranetown.  Or,  it  may  have 
started  at  Oliif's  house,  and  have  followed  the  course 
of  the  ravine  southeastwardly  to  the  j)resent  gateway 
of  Llewellyn  Park,  on  the  Valley  Koad.  Within  the 
last  fifty  years,  there  was  an  ancient  cart-path  in  that 
ravine,  through  which  wood  and  farm  produce  were 
brought  to  the  highway  from  the  fields  lying  near  the 
top  of  the  mountain.  On  the  accompanying  map  of 
"Early  Roads"  the  fourth  and  fifth  roads  are  sug- 
gested by  dotted  lines :  we  do  not  dare  to  be  more 
positive  as  to  their  location. 

Nor  do  we  find  any  person  who  ventures  to  locate 
the  sixtli  road,  "running  N.  E.  from  s'd  Road  to 
Town,  by  a  i^ath  and  Nuttman's  line."  It  was,  per- 
haps, near  the  town,  and  intended  to  be  a  cross-road  to 
Bloomfield. 

But,  the  seventh  road  seems  to  be  the  original  Eagle 
Rock  Road  ;  which  was  laid  out  anew  in  1733.  It  was 
described,  in  1705,  as  "An  other  Highway  from  the 
way  at  the  Foot  of  the  Mountain,  running  up  to  the 
top  of  the  Mountain  ;  beginning  on  the  North  side  of 
Amos  Williams  House ;  thence  in  the  Line  between 
Amos  and  John  Johnson  as  near  as  may  be  to  Rocks, 
North  to  the  Notch."  And,  in  1733,  as  "Beginning 
at  the  house  of  David  Day,  thence  running  as  the  road 
now  runs  to  a  certain  chestnut  tree  standing  near  the 
house  of  Amos  Williams,  said  tree  standing  on  the 


Early  Roads.  51 

north-east  side  of  said  higlnvay  ;  thence  running  as 

the  road  now  goes  bet\Yeen  the  fences  of  Amos  Wil- 

yf  ^-^/^  liams  and  Thomas  Wil- 

/c^n^^  '^i/7^'a/)l^  liams  ;  thence  turning  to 
^  the  left  hand  over  a  small 

brook,  and  so  running  up  said  brook  to  the  mountain  ; 
thence  running  north  of  a  certain  Notch,  called  and 
known  by  the  name  of  the  Gf-reat  Notch,  to  the  top  of 
the  Mountain." 

The  first  Ainos  was  the  brother,  and  the  second  a 
son,  of  the  original  settler  Matthew  Williams.  The 
road  evidently  began,  in  each  survey,  at  or  near  the 
bridge  over  Wigwam  Brook,  in  Tory  Corner. 

There  were  other  roads  in  early  use,  and  that  remain 
unto  this  day,  which  were  not  regularly  surveyed. 
One  of  them  was  the  road  leading  from  Cranetown 
(Montclair,)  to  Orange  ;   entering  our  Main  Street  at 
the  Park  House,  or  by  way  of  the  present  Washington 
Street  at  Brick  Church,  in  East  Orange.     It  is  alleged 
that  our  existing  Park  Street  follows  the  precise  lines 
of  the  former  Cranetown  Road.     Of  equally  early  ori- 
gin was  the  road  from  Wardsesson  (Bloomfield, )  to 
East  Orange ;  and  which  is  now  known  as  Prospect 
Street.     And  so  with  the  Swinefield  Road  :  in  use  by 
the  aborigines  in  their  journeys  from  the  Hudson  to 
the  Delaware  rivers.    Originally,  a  "path,"  it  branched 
off  from  our  present  Main  Street,  at  the  Brick  Church  ; 
and,  ranning  through  Tory  Corner,  crossed  the  Moun- 
tain at  Eagle  Rock.     From  Tory  Corner  westward  to 
the  top  of  the  Mountain  it  was  laid  out  as  a  common 
highway  in  1705,  and  afterwards  in  1733.     Until  the 
speculation-times  of   1836  and  1837,  the  Avhole  high- 
way was  called  the  Swinefield  Road.     But  building- 
lots  were  more  valuable  when  located  on  a  "street," 
rather  than  on  a  country  "  road."     And,  so  the  high- 
sounding  name  of  Washington  Street  was  given  to  all 


52  History  of  the  Oranges. 

that  part  of  the  highway  which  lies  east  of  Tory  Cor- 
ner. And  the  late  Llewellyn  S.  Haskell,  in  1855,  called 
all  that  part  of  it  which  ascends  the  monntain  by  the 
more  appropriate  name  of  Eagle  Rock  Road. 

"  Scotland  Lane,"  in  Orange,  was  opened  and  in  use 
as  far  back  as  1721.  It  is  spoken  of  in  a  conveyance 
for  real  estate,  made  in  that  year.  In  1730,  the  exist- 
ing Centre  Street,  in  Orange,  was  designated  as  "a 
highway";  but  it  was  not  formally  laid  out  until 
1809.  And  "Harrison  street,"  in  East  Orange,  "was 
laid  out  by  the  surveyors  in  1796  ;  and  yet  it  must 
have  been  in  use  long  before  that  date.  Indeed,  the 
surveyors'  return  speaks  of  it  as  an  existing  "lane." 

In  primitive  days  there  w^as  a  sufficiency  of  high- 
ways, as  regards  their  number.  But  they  were  poorly 
constructed,  and  badly  kept.  In  oi^ening  them  to 
public  travel,  little  was  done  beside  moving  back  the 
fences,  and  establishing  them  upon  the  new  lines.  A 
swamp  was  overcome  by  throwing  in  a  few  loads  of 
imbroken  stone,  from  the  adjoining  fields  ;  perhaps,  by 
a  few  logs,  laid  down  as  a  corduroy  pavement.  Eoad- 
overseers  were  chosen  annually,  and  the  inhabitants 
were  "warned  out"  at  uncertain  periods,  whenever  it 
might  interfere  the  least  with  farm  work,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  "keeping  the  roads  in  repair!"  The  over- 
seers had  little  conception  of  the  true  principles  of 
road-making,  and  were  for  the  most  part  content  to 
plow  up  the  gutters,  and  to  throw  the  rich  soil  back 
into  the  middle  of  the  carriage-track  ;  while  the  farm- 
ers and  shoemakers,  who  were  "working  out  their 
taxes,"  seemed  to  have  no  other  object  in  view  than 
to  make  each  day's  labor  a  short  one.  No  one  appre- 
ciated the  value  of  good  roads.  Such  of  us  as  were 
in  the  habit  of  driving  in  Essex  county,  forty  years 
ago,  will  remember  the  deep,  tenacious^  mud  of  Cen- 


Early  Roads.  53 

tre  and  Scotland  streets,  in  Orange,  in  the  Spring  and 
Autumn  months ;  and  their  bones  will  ache  anew,  in 
the  recollection  of  the  physical  tortures  of  the  passage 
from  South  Orange  to  Newark,  over  the  scantily- 
covered  rocks  in  the  old  South  Orange  Road,  during 
the  whole  twelve-month.  Blessed  be  the  memory  of 
Mac- Adam  and  Telford  forever  ! 


1 

1 

Li^ifj»&MliP'^U 

CHAPTER  IV. 

EAELY   LOCAL   INDUSTRIES. 

IN  the  year  1710,  a  large  tract  of  rough,  wild  land  on 
the  banks  of  the  Passaic  River,  opposite  Belleville, 
was  purchased  by  Arent  Schuyler.  It  was  a  part  of 
what  was  then  known  as  Barbadoes  ISleck,  which  ex- 
tended from  the  bay  between  the  entrance  of  the  two 
rivers,  Hackensack  and  Passaic,  about  seven  miles 
north,  to  Boiling  Spring,  now  Rutherford  Park. 

In  1719,  Mr.  Schuyler's  attention  was  called  by  his 
colored  man  to  a  specimen  of  rock  which  he  had  found 
on  the  tract.  Its  weight  and  peculiar  appearance  led 
him  to  regard  it  as  something  valuable.  Upon  inves- 
tigation, it  proved  to  be  copi3er  ore  containing  80  per 
cent,  of  the  metal.  The  ore  was  very  abundant,  but 
for  reasons  unknown  the  mine  was  not  worked  much 
in  the  first  owner's  day.     He  died  in  1730.^     But  Mr. 


I.  That  it  was  worked  earlier  than  1730  appears  from  a  letter  of  Gov. 
Hunter  to  the  Lords  of  Trade,  November  12,  1715,  in  which  he  notices  the 
want  of  small  currency  in  New  Jersey,  and  recommends  them  to  obtain  a 
grant  for  coining  copper  farthings,  as  they  will  "  find  by  the  Custom  Houie 
books  in  Bristol,  where  there  was  imported  from  New  York  about  a  Tonn  of 
ore  in  July  or  August  from  a  copper  mine  here  brought  to  perfection." 
(New  Jersey  Archives,  IV.  222.)  Also,  on  April  17,  1721,  the  Surveyor  of 
New  York  signified  to  the  Lords  of  Trade  that  "the  copper  ore  which  now 
rises  very  rich  and  in  great  plenty  in  a  new  discovered  mine  of  one  Mr. 
Schuyler  in  New  Jersey.  *  *  *  There  is  shipt  on  board,  etc.,  for 
Holland,  one  hundred  and  ten  casks  of  said  copper  ore,  which  we  have  not 
as  I  can  find,  any  law  at  present  to  prevent."     {Ibid.  Vol.  V.,  7.) 


Early  Local  Industries.  55 

Schuyler's  son,  John,  who  inherited  the  property, 
worked  it  very  profitably,  sending  the  ore  to  England 
to  be  wrought.  In  1753,  the  first  steam  engine  intro- 
duced into  the  colonies,  was  set  up  in  the  mine  at  a  cost 
of  £3,000  sterling.  It  was  capable  of  throwing  about 
eighty  hogsheads  of  water  per  minute.  It  was  de- 
stroyed by  fire  some  years  afterwards.  There  were 
sent  to  the  Bristol  Copper  and  Brass  Works,  England, 
at  least  thirteen  hundred  and  eighty-six  tons  and  prob- 
ably much  more.  This  was  one  of  the  earliest  mining- 
enterprises  in  the  American  provinces.  The  ore  was 
prepared  for  shipment  by  crushing  the  rock  in  which  it 
was  found,  by  means  of  a  stamping  mill.  It  was  then 
washed  from  the  rock  and  placed  in  barrels  for  ship- 
ment to  the  motlier  country  ;  for,  be  it  noted,  that  the 
careful  old  mother  would  not  trust  her  daughters  to 
work  out  the  pure  material  on  their  own  account  and 
for  their  own  profit. 

This  mine  has  been  worked  with  varying  degrees  of 
success  till  within  about  twenty  years.  A  shaft  was 
sunk  not  many  years  since  by  a  Philadelphia  com- 
pany, to  the  depth  of  275  feet,  and  an  abundance  ot 
valuable  ore  obtained,  but  the  expense  of  working  it 
proved  too  great,  and  caused  its  abandonment. 

Those  who  drive  across  the  Hackensack  meadows 
towards  Newark,  have  probably  noticed,  a  little  north 
of  the  cut  of  the  Midland  Railroad,  a  bank  resembling 
the  white  dune  sands  on  the  seashore.  This  is  the  de- 
bris from  the  washings  of  the  copper  mine.  It  marks 
its  locality  to  the  traveller,  as  also  the  immense  amount 
of  material  which  has  been  unearthed  during  a  period 
of  more  than  a  hundred  years. 

Our  fathers  of  this  "Old  Newark"  region,  during 
the  first  fifty  years  of  its  history,  had  no  higher  ambi- 
tion than  to  reap  the  reward  of  their  labor  in  the  sup- 


56  History  of  the  Oranges. 

port  of  their  iamilies,  aiiti  in  adding  a  little  to  their 
means  by  their  diligent  culture  of  the  virgin  soil  of 
their  lands.  But  now,  new  sources  of  profit  hlled  their 
thoughts.  A  valuable  ore  had  been  found  in  their 
immediate  neighborhood,  and 

A  MINING  EPIDEMICj 

spread  throughout  the  Newark  settlement  and  through 
the  Province,  as  well.  Gfeological  knowledge  was  very 
crude.  Indeed,  Geology  had  not  as  yet  been  raised  to 
the  rank  of  a  science.  The  groux3ing  of  rocks,  their 
distribution  and  relations,  and  the  natural_position  of 
minerals,  was  not  yet  known  or  even  discussed.  No 
' '  School  of  Mines ' '  existed,  even  in  the  old  country, 
nor  was  known  till  a  hundred  years  afterwards.  The 
miners  of  England  wasted  capital  as  they  "blundered 
their  way  into  practical  skill."  No  wonder  that  our 
fathers  cherished  the  delusive  hope,  that  if  their  lands 
furnished  copper,  metals  still  more  precious  might  be 
brought  to  light  by  diligent  search. 

The  old  town  records  show  that  such  search  was 
made.  In  1721,  (two  years  after  Schuyler's  discovery,) 
"it  was  agreed  by  vote,  that  the  trustees,  or  the  major 
part  of  them,  should  have  power,  with  Capt.  Samuel 
Harrison  and  Lieut.  Samuel  Dod,  to  let  out  the  Com- 
mon Land,  or  any  part  thereof,  to  dig  for  mines,  to 
such  persons  and  on  such  terms  as  they  shall  agree 
upon."  In  1731,  the  same  agreement  was  again  adop- 
ted, and  in  1735,  ' '  the  town  being  assembled  together, 
there  was  a  vote  put,  whether  the  inhabitants  were 
willing  that  the  Common  Land  should  be  leased  out  to 
any  person,  for  to  search  and  dig  for  mines,  which  was 
carried  in  the  affirmative,  and  not  one  person  oppos- 
ing it." 

There  is  abundant  evidence  that  tlie  privilege  to  dig 


A  Mining  Epidemic.  57 

for  ore  was  used  in  Orange  and  Bloomtield.  One  mine 
was  opened  and  successfully  worked,  of  which  here- 
after. Upon  the  Ropes  property,  when  being  graded, 
three  places  were  found  by  the  contractor,  where  deep 
excavations  had  been  made  in  early  times,  tilled  up  by 
successive  layers  of  leaves  and  earth.  One  of  them, 
at  the  foot  of  Mount  Vernon  Avenue,  was  a  tinished 
shaft,  sustained  by  heavy  timber  in  good  preservation. 
This  shaft  was  discovered  many  years  since  by  the 
former  owner  of  the  property,  Judge  Williams,  while 
digging  for  purposes  of  improvement,  and  was  recog- 
nized by  him  as  a  mine-digging  relic.  The  recent 
grading  rendered  it  necessary  to  remove  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  timber  of  the  shaft.  The  bottom  was 
not  reached.  The  remainder  is  there  still,  being  cut 
olf  to  grade.  There  is  no  evidence  in  the  vicinity  of 
these  diggings  that  there  was  any  reward  or  even  en- 
couragement for  the  labor  bestowed. 

In  Bloomtield,  a  little  south  of  Ridgewood  Avenue, 
and  crossing  the  highway  to  Montclair,  was  a  locality 
where  considerable  mining  was  done.  A  hammer  and 
a  handpick  were  unearthed  two  years  since  *at  this 
Ijlace,  vvlien  the  avenue  was  being  widened  and  graded. 
A  drill  was  also  noticed  in  the  rock,  which,  upon  meas- 
urement, proved  to  be  tifteen  feet  in  depth.  There  is 
no  tradition  that  this  mine  ever  yielded  anything  more 
than  the  "stoneheaps"  which  distinguished  that  part 
of  the  town  for  more  than  a  century.  They  lay  there 
till  about  twenty-tive  years  since,  when  the  last  of  them 
were  removed,  being  utilized  for  farm  and  building- 
purposes.  When  the  ground  where  they  lay  was 
cleared,  the  stumps  of  the  primitive  forest  trees  were 
brought  to  viev*^.  This  mine  was  opened  at  a  very 
early  date,  Thomas  Cadmus,  who  was  born  in  1736, 
near  the  mine,  and  afterwards  inherited  the  property, 


58  History  of  the  Oranges. 

always  declared  that  it  was  worked  before  his  remem- 
brance. He  only  remembered  the  stoneheaps.  Allow- 
ing ten  years  for  the  dim  recollection  of  childhood,  it 
seems  certain  that  they  lay  there  in  1746. 

About  twenty  years  since  a  Cornwall  miner,  who 
had  worked  in  the  Schuyler  mine,  made  an  effort  to 
lease  the  Bloomfield  property  for  mining  purposes ; 
but  the  owner  (the  widow  of  Thomas  Cadmus,)  did  not 
"want  to  see  anymore  stoneheaps,"  and  persistently 
refused  to  consider  his  offers.  The  only  successful  en- 
terprise was  the 

COPPER   MINE   IN   ORANGE, 

which  was  discovered  on  the  lands  of  John  Dod,  who 
owned  about  500  acres,  extending  from  a  line  a  little 
west  of  the  Bethel  Presbyterian  Church  north  and  north- 
east towards  Bloomfield,  including  the  site  of  the  present 
saw-mill  between  Dodd  street  and  Bloomfield  Town- 
ship. This  mine  was  opened  near  the  bank  of  the 
Second  River.  Its  entrance  is  now  partly  covered  by 
the  foundation  of  the  church.  The  terms  on  which 
it  was  .  worked  appear  from  the  articles  of  agree- 
^//^  (^  /  mentj  an  ancient  copy  of  which, 
Z!I>7fAxvn  >^cC  (j^iy  attested,  is  in  the  possession 
of  Calvin  Dodd,  Esq.,  now  in  his  85th  year,  a  great- 
grandson  of  John  Dod.  They  are  dated  February 
24th,  1720,  and  were  made  between  John  Dod,  of 
Newark  and  Gideon  Van  Winkle  and  Johannes  Cow- 
man, of  the  same  place.  The  first  party  grants 
free  liberty  for  the  term  of  twenty-five  years,  "to 
search  for  and  dig  in  any  of  the  lands  or  any  part  of 
the  lands  belonging"  to  John  Dod,  "within  the  limits 
of  his  patent,  or  other  patent,  by  which  he  holds  his 
land  in  the  bounds  of  Newark,  not  undermining  any 
building  or  buildings,  to  seek  for  any  mines,  minerals, 


Copper  Mine  in  Ora^tge.  59 

copper  or  any  other  metals  or  ore  whatsoever."  Each 
party  agreed  to  meet  one-half  of  the  expenses  and  re- 
ceive one-half  of  the  prolits.  A  stamping  mill  was 
erected  on  the  stream  where  the  saw-mill  now  stands, 
and  the  whole  venture  was  put  in  successful  operation. 
Tradition  says  that  it  yielded  a  profitable  return  by 
shipment  of  the  ore  to  England.  Documents  in  pos- 
session of  Mr.  Calvin  Bodd  show  that  it  was  worked 
through  the  twenty-live  years'  lease.  In  1745  the  lease 
was  in  possession  of   Frind   Lucas,   an  Englishman, 

-/^     /^       '    tr:^  J-  ^^^'  ^^  ^^^  said,  came  to  this 

'^^^'^^'"'^  country  to  purchase  it.     He 

operated  it  as  late  as  1755,  and,  probably,  till  1760, 
or  later.  It  was  abandoned  on  account  of  the  water, 
the  floor  of  the  mine  becoming  lower  than  the  creek, 
thereby  arresting  drainage.  In  the  Library  of  the  His- 
torical Society  at  Newark,  is  an  original  release  of 
John  Dod  for  one-half  of  his  interest  in  the  agreement 
with  Van  Winkle  and  Cowman.  It  is  made  to  Cor- 
nelius Clopper,  and  dated  November  13,  1720.  In  this 
document,  Dod  describes  the  mines,  minerals  and  ore, 
as  upon  "my  land  at  Rattlesnake  Flain.^'' 

The  entrance  to  the  mine  was  large  enough  for  the 
passage  of  a  horse  and  cart,  and  the  excavation  was 
carried  from  700  to  800  feet  N.  E.  from  the  entrance. 
Mr.  Dodd,  on  the  occasion  of  digging  a  well  about 
twenty-five  years  since  over  the  mine,  went  down  and 
found  a  chamber,  which  he  estimated  at  half  an  acre, 
covered  with  water  and  full  of  large  rocks.  About 
1853,  the  people  of  that  part  of  the  town  w^ere  alarmed 
at  the  sudden  sinking  of  a  considerable  surface  of  the 
earth,  and  a  Newark  pax^er  noticed  it  with  the  sensa- 
tional heading,  "A  part  of  Orange  sunk."  It  was, 
doubtless,  caused  by  the  decay  of  the  timber  supports 
of  the  mine  beneath.     The  rock  is  of  the  same  nature 


6o  History  of  the  Oranges. 

as  that  of  the  Schiij-ler  mine,  as  the  writer  examined 
it  twenty  years  since,  and  before  the  entrance  was 
filled  U13  by  earth.  The  debris  at  the  site  of  the  old 
stamping  mill,  a  little  of  which  is  still  noticeable,  cor- 
responds in  aj)pearance  with  that  of  the  bank  at 
Belleville.  The  ore  is  in  the  sandstone  formation,  but 
of  a  lighter  color  than  our  quarries. 

It  is  reasonable  to  infer  that  the  discovery  of  the 
Orange  mine  was  nearly  contem^Doraneous  with  that  of 
the  Schuyler  ore.  The  latter  was  discovered  in  1719, 
and  early  in  the  next  year,  February,  1720,  the  articles 
of  agreement  were  executed  for  working  the  mine  at 
Orange. 

Traces  of  copper  are  to  be  met  with  in  the  red  sand- 
stone of  our  fields  and  quarries,  but  the  writer  has 
nowhere  seen  the  rock  peculiar  to  the  mines  noticed, 
in  any  other  locality. 

The  original  owners  of  the  Dodd  estate,  in  all  their 
releases  of  whatever  kind,  reserved  the  right  to  all 
mines  and  minerals.  We  have  seen  a  receipt  dated 
January  28,  1796,  "in  full  for  all  demands  against  the 
estate  of  John  Dod,  late  of  Newark,  deceased,  only 
excepting  and  reserving  all  mines  and  minerals."  The 
working  this  Orange  mine  gave  an  impulse  to  traffic 
and  increased  the  poiDulation,  especially  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  mine. 

It  may  be  stated  that  in  the  years  1748,  '9  and  '50, 
lumps  of  virgin  copper  were  found  near  New  Bruns- 
wick. Elias  Boudinot  leased  the  land  for  99  years, 
with  a  view  to  mining.  A  company  was  organized  and 
many  tons  of  ore  were  obtained  and  exported  to  Eng- 
land, but  the  accumulation  of  water  caused  its  aban- 
donment. 

Copper  ore  is  also  found  to  a  limited  extent  in  many 
places  in  New  Jersey,  and  many  attempts  at  working 


Copper  Mine  in   Orange.  6i 

tiiem  have  been  made.  Witli  few  exceptions  "they 
have  been  enterprises  of  a  speculative  character,  com- 
panies being  organized  and  large  amounts  of  stock  sold 
and  but  little  mining  done."  {Prof.  CooJi  s  Geology 
of  New  Jersey,  p.  675.) 

The  grant  of  Charles  II.  to  the  Duke  of  York,  1674, 
includes  mines,  minerals  and  quarries.  The  opening 
and  successful  operation  of  the  Schuyler  mine,  in  the 
ore  of  which  some  traces  of  silver  may  have  been 
found,  excited  the  expectation  in  the  inhabitants  of 
tlie  Province  that  its  virgin  soil  was  rich  in  precious 
ores,  and  a  desire  to  know  their  rights  to  them.  On 
May  24,  1722,  a  memorial  was  sent  to  the  Lords  of 
Trade  relative  to  leasing  the  mines  in  America,  repre- 
senting that  there  are  found  in  New  Jersey  several 
rich  mines,  consisting  of  silver  and  gold,  unmixed  or 
mixed,  with  other  metals,  and  asking  whether,  by  royal 
instructions  to  his  Majesty's  Governors  in  America, 
licenses  might  be  granted  for  digging  and  working  the 
mines.  ^ 

On  February  12,  1722-3,  Gov.  Burnet  communicated 
to  Lord  Carteret  that  silver  and  gold  are  to  be  found 
in  New  Jersey,  saying  :  "There  must  be  great  allow- 
ances made  for  the  humour  that  now  prevails  to  run  a 
mine  hunting ;"  and,  not  pretending  to  give  an  opinion 
as  to  the  truth  of  the  reports,  asks  for  information  as 
to  the  right  and  title  remaining  to  his  Majesty  in  such 
mines,  and  how  far  the  present  proprietors  have  a  right 
in  them,  according  to  the  grants  on  record  in  Great 
Britain,  or  if  the  royal  mines  are  invested  in  the 
Crown.  2 

In  1723,  November  30,  the  Attorney- General  and  the 
Solicitor-General  gave,  as  their  opinion,  that  the  char- 

1.  See  New  Jersey  Archives,  V.  p.  37. 

2.  Ibid.  p.  64. 


62  History  of  the  Oranges. 

ter  granted  only  the  base  metals,  and  that  the  royal 
mines  did  not  pass  to  the  grantees  of  New  Jersey.  ^ 

A  branch  of  the  royal  revenue,  the  right  to  mines, 
has  its  original  from  the  King's  prerogative  of  coinage, 
in  order  to  supply  him  witli  material,  and,  therefore, 
those  mines  which  are  property  royal,  and  to  which 
the  King  is  entitled  when  found,  are  only  those  of 
silver  and  gold.     {Blacli. stone,  Book  I.,  Chap.  XIII.) 

The  restrictive  policy  of  England  towards  the  Amer- 
ican colonies  is  illustrated  in  her  action  concerning  the 
manufacture  of  iron.  Representation  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Province  of  New  Jersey  was  made  in 
1741  to  his  Majesty,  "relative  to  encouragement  for 
the  manufacture  of  iron,"  in  which  the  province 
abounded.  2  No  notice  w^as  taken  of  the  application 
till  1750,  when  an  act  of  Parliament  was  passed,  the 
title  of  which  is  sufficient  to  show  its  jealousy  of  the 
American  colonies,  and  its  shortsightedness  in  dealing 
with  them— "An  act  to  incourage  the  Importation  of 
Pig  and  Bar  Iron  from  His  Majesty's  Colonies  in 
America,  and  to  prevent  the  Erection  of  any  Mill  or 
other  Engine  fqr  Slitting  or  rolling  Iron,  or  any  plating 
Forge  to  work  with  a  Tilt  hammer  or  any  furnace  for 
making  Steel  in  Any  of  the  said  colonies."  ^ 

THE   MANUFACTURE   OF  HATS. 

In  the  early  years  of  the  settlements  of  the  colonies, 
special  efforts  w^ere  made  to  encourage  the  emigration 
of  all  classes  of  tradesmen  and  artisans.  These  efforts 
were  not  without  success.  During  the  period  of  which 
we  now  write  they  had  become  sufficiently  numerous, 
not  only  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  people,  but  to  man- 


1.  See  New  Jersey  Archives,  p.  74. 

2.  Ibid.  VI.  p.  140. 

3.  Ibid.  VII.  p.  554. 


The  MamifactMre  of  Hats.  63 

ufacture  and  ship  to  England  the  products  of  their 
skill.  Early  in  the  last  century  hats  became  an  im- 
portant article  of  trade.  The  makers  offered  large  in- 
ducements to  skilled  workmen  to  emigrate,  and  set  up 
their  manufacture,  and  by  taking  apprentices  to  in- 
crease production.!  The  felt  makers  of  London  be- 
came alarmed,  and,  in  1731,  j)resented  a  memorial  to  the 
Lords  Commissioners  of  Trade  and  Plantations,  rep- 
resenting that  the  inhabitants  of  the  plantations  had 
set  up  the  manufacture  of  beaver  hats,  which  they 
could  make  and  send  over  to  England,  and  undersell  the 
home  manufacturers.  The  memorial  reiDresented,  also, 
that  the  production  of  "great  quantities  of  woolen 
manufactures  made  in  most  of  the  northern  Planta- 
tions," would  in  time,  if  not  prevented,  "grow  ex- 
tremely prejudicial  to  the  manufacturers  of  G'  Brit- 
ain." 2  Great  Britain  was  very  careful  to  promote  its 
woolen  manufactures.  In  the  18th  Of  Charles  II.,  an 
act  was  passed  by  Parliament  "for  burying  in  woolen 
only."  It  was  provided  that  no  corpse  should  be 
buried  but  in  woolen  only  ;  penalty  £5.  The  act  was 
intended  to  lessen  the  importation  of  linen  from  "be- 
yond the  sea,"  which  was  the  customary  fabric  for 
swathing  the  dead  by  those  who  were  able  to  pur- 
chase. 3  That  "the  consumption  of  Linnen of  all  sorts 
is  amazingly  great^"  thus  lessening  the  revenue  and 
allowing  the  inhabitants  of  the  plantations  to  have 
"the  goods  much  cheaper  than  the  inhabitants  of  the 
kingdom,  who  even  bear  the  burthen  and  charge  of 
protecting  the  plantations."* 
Gov.  Cosby,  in  1782,  wrote  to  the  Lords  of  Trade 


1.  New  Jersey  Archives,  V.  307. 

2.  Ibid.  V.  309. 

3.  Sepulture  :  Its  History  and  Methods,  by  the  author  of  this  work,  p.  140. 

4.  New  Jersey  Archives,  V.  309. 


64  History  of  the  Oranges. 

from  ISTew  York :  "  The  hatt  making  trade  here  seemed 
to  make  the  greatest  advances  to  the  prejndices  of 
Great  Britain."  ^  W.  A,  Whitehead,  the  editor  of  the 
Archives,  in  a  note,  remarks  that  about  this  time  a  hat 
manufactory  was  established  in  New  Jersey.  Its  lo- 
cality is  not  noted. 

That  there  were  at  the  Mountain  those  who  were 
engaged  in  the  trade  may  be  inferred  from  a  charge 
made  by  Eev.  Caleb  Smith  to  Mr.  Woodhull,  1758,  for 
a  sum  paid  to  Nehemiah  Baldwin  for  "dressing  an  old 
hat  of  mine,"  for  Billey,  who  was  a  papil  in  the  gram- 
mar school.  We  have  no  evidence  that  the  manufac- 
ture of  hats,  to  any  extent,  began  in  Newark  town- 
ship before  the  last  decade  of  the  century.  ^ 

DISTILLERIES. 

We  cannot  fix  the  date  of  the  working  of  the  first 
distillery  in  the  Newark  township.  The  abundance  of 
the  apple  crop,  and  the  universal  use  of  cider,  doubt- 
less, became  very  early  a  temptation  to  convert  it  into 
a  beverage  more  concentrated.  The  distillation  of 
West  India  molasses  into  New  England  rum  was  be- 
gun in  1731  or '32.  Hildreth,  in  his  History  of  the 
United  States,  says  that  the  agents  of  the  Colony  of 
Massachusetts,   in  1751,    undertook  to   show   to   the 


1.  New  Jersey  Archives,  306. 

2.  The  style  of  hat  worn  before  1700  was  that  of  the  days  of  Cromwell 
and  Charles  II.,  high  and  conical  with  a  narrow,  straight  brim,  and  often 
embellished  with  a  feather.  Towards  the  beginning  of  1700  the  crowns  of 
hats  were  mostly  round,  much  lower  than  before,  with  very  large  brims.  The 
brim  became  such  an  incumbrance  that  for  convenience  they  were  soon 
turned  up  in  front.  Fashion  dictated  the  unbending  of  another  side  or  flap 
and  at  last  a  third,  so  that  in  1704  the  regular  three  cocked  hat,  without 
feather,  became  the  fashion  of  the  time.  {FairhoU  on  English  Costutne.) 
Cowper  commissioned  his  town  friend  to  send  him  among  other  things  a  hat, 
"not  a  round  slouch,"  but  a  smart  well  cocked  fashionable  affair.  This 
request  expresses  the  laudable  ambition  of  a  well-dressed  man  at  nearly  the 
close  of  the  i8th  century. 


Products —  Currency.  6  5 

British  government  that  New  England  rnm  was  the 
mainstay  of  the  trade  of  New  England. 

From  the  period  of  the  French  war,  to  1776,  the  use 
of  spirituous  liquors  had  its  greatest  development  in 
the  colonies.  When  the  war  of  the  Kevolution  cut  off 
foreign  supplies,  distilleries  so  multiplied  that,  accord- 
ing to  the  testimony  of  eye  witnesses,  it  was  difficult 
for  travellers  to  get  out  of  their  smoke.  In  the  early 
part  of  the  present  century,  there  were  more  than 
twelve  distilleries  in  the  Oranges. 

PRODUCTS. 

The  resources  of  New  Jersey  in  1721  in  its  produc- 
tions were  most  abundant.  It  is  spoken  of  by  a  writer 
to  England  in  1724,  as  the  most  prolific  of  any  prov- 
ince in  America.  During  the  twenty  years  following 
this,  in  these  mountain  plantations,  beef,  pork,  horses, 
cattle,  swine,  copper  ore,  timber  and  staves  for  ship- 
ment to  the  West  Indies,  were  the  standing  articles  of 
production  and  trade.  In  Samuel  Harrison's  account 
book  we  find,  under  the  date  of  June  9,  1743,  the  fol- 
lowing memorandum  of  his  agreement  to  supply  array 
stores  in  evident  anticipation  of  the  war  between  Eng- 
land and  France,  which  was  declared  a  year  later : 

"  With  all  the  expedison  emagnable  agree  for  and  purchas  for 
the  five  hundred  men,  or  in  purporson  for  so  maney  as  shall  inlist 
not  exseding  five  hundred,  viz  191  Barels  of  pork  one  no  Barels  of 
Beef  6000  pound  waight  of  Bisket  2000  galans  of  Rhum,  four 
Hundred  and  Sixty  bushel  of  Pees,  four  Hundred  and  Sixty  two 
Bushel  of  inden  Corn,  650  pounds  of  Baken,  forty  Hundred 
Waight  of  Rice,  3000  pound  Waight  of  Cheese,  3000  pound 
Waight  of  tobacco." 

CUREENCY. 

The   coin   which  the   emigi'ants  to   New   England 
brought   with  them  soon  found  its  way  back  to  the 
5 


66  History  of  the  Oranges. 

motlier  country  in  exchange  for  goods  imported.  Their 
trade  soon  thereafter  established  with  the  West  Indies 
brought  to  them  coin,  and  this,  too,  was  shipped  to 
England.  To  stop  this  drain  of  specie,  Massachusetts 
resorted  to  the  experiment  of  coining  shillings,  six- 
pences and  three-x)ences,  alloyed  one-quarter  below 
the  British  standard.  These  pieces  are  now  known  as 
the  "Pine  tree  Shillings,"  etc.,  from  having  a  pine 
tree  on  one  side  and  "New  England"  on  the  obverse. 
The  same  measure  was  adopted  elsewhere,  with  the  fal- 
lacious idea  that  the  coin  thus  debased  would  not  be 
exported.  It  thus  happened  that  the  pound  currency 
of  the  colonies  came  to  be  one-fourth  less  valuable 
than  the  pound  sterling  of  England.  This  standard 
was  afterwards  adopted  by  the  British  Parliament  for 
all  the  American  colonies. 

In  East  Jersey,  for  some  time  after  its  settlement, 
the  coins  of  Holland  and  England  and  their  respective 
moneys  of  account  were  current.  The  differences  of 
value  of  coin  in  the  colonies,  especially  between  New 
Jersey  and  her  contiguous  colonies.  New  York  and 
Pennsylvania,  caused  much  annoyance  in  trade,  and 
in  1704  Queen  Ann  issued  a  proclamation  to  correct 
the  "inconveniences  caused  by  the  different  rates  at 
which  the  same  species  of  foreign  coin  i3ass  in  drawing 
money  from  one  plantation  to  another,  to  the  great 
prejudice  of  her  Majesty' s  subjects."  The  only  remedy 
being  the  reduction  of  all  foreign  coins  to  the  same 
cuiTent  rate  within  her  dominions  in  America.  The 
proclamation  declared  that  no  Sevill,  pillar  or  Mexico 
pieces  of  eight,  though  of  the  full  weight  of  seventeen 
penny  weight  and  a  half,  and  other  enumerated  coins 
at  a  value  stated,  should  be  accounted,  received,  taken 
or  paid  at  above  the  rate  of  six  shillings,  seventy-two 
pennies,  per  piece  current  money  for  the  discharge  of 


Currency.  67 

any  contracts  or  bargains  to  be  made  after  the  first 
of  January  next  ensuing.  The  lesser  pieces  of  the 
same  coins  to  be  acconnted  in  the  same  proportion.  ^ 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  in  1700,  or  thereabout, 
the  ordinary  rate  of  the  piece  of  eight  weighing  not 
less  than  seventeen  penny  weight,  was  in  Boston  six 
shillings,  in  New  York  eight,  in  New  Jersey  and  Penn- 
sylvania seven  and  sixpence,  and  in  Maryland  four 
and  sixpence.  This  was  complained  of  by  the  English 
merchants,  and  the  proclamation  followed,  which,  a 
few  years  later,  was  confirmed  by  act  of  Parliament.  ^ 
Bills  of  credit  were  afterwards  issued  by  this  stand- 
ard.' 

American  traders  were  as  much  dissatisfied,  espe- 
cially in  the  Middle  States,  with  the  proclamation  as 
were  the  traders,  in  England  with  the  old  rates.  Gov. 
Cornbury  suspended  its  operation  in  New  York,  and 
the  other  colonies  practically  disregarded  it.  In  1708 
the  Legislature  of  New;  York  passed  a  law  fixing  the 
value  of  silver  coins  at  eight  shillings  per  ounce  troy. 
This  was  called  York  money,  and,  in  making  contracts 
in  New  Jersey,  payment  was  provided  for  in  York,  or 
proclamation  money. 

From  Samuel  Harrison's  Account  Book. 
Arthur  Perry,  Cr. 
September  23,    1747.     Received   of    your   wife,         )  00.  07.  o 


two  bils  of  three  shilings  and  sixpence, 
One  eight  shiling  pees  of  silver,      ....  00.  08.  8 


1.  See  Smith's  History  of  New  Jersey,  p.  281. 

2.  Elmer's  History  of  Cumberland  County,  N.  J.,  p.  120. 

3.  When  and  how  pieces  of  eight  came  to  be  called  dollar  does  not  ap- 
pear. The  name  was  derived  from  Germany  called  there  thaler,  in  Den- 
mark dalor,  and  translated  in  English  dollar. 


68  History  of  the  Oranges. 

Such  was  the  scarcity  of  coin  that  there  was  an 
earnest  call  in  the  colonies  for  paper  money.  It  was 
resisted  by  the  British  Board  of  Trade,  to  which  all 
questions  relating  to  currency  were  referred.  Only  on 
special  emergencies  would  the  Governor  sanction  its 
issue.  1  The  first  act  passed  in  K"ew  Jersey  was  in  1709. 
It  authorized  the  issue  of  bills  to  the  amount  of  three 
thousand  pounds  for  his  Majesty's  service,  some  of 
which  remained  in  circulation  six  or  eight  years,  but 
were  sunk  by  being  paid  in  taxes.  In  1716  an  act  was 
passed  for  the  currencj^  of  bills  of  credit  to  the  amount 
of  eleven  thousand  six  hundred  and  seventy-five  ounces 
of  plate,  or  about  four  thousand  pounds  of  proclama- 
tion money,  which  were  soon  jiaid  in  and  redeemed.^ 

After  much  controversy  between  the  Assembly  and 
the  Governor  (Burnet),  the  former  refusing  to  provide 
for  the  support  of  the  government,  unless  bills  of 
credit  were  allowed,  an  agreement  was  reached  in  1723 
by  which  the  Assembly  "provided  for  ten  years  to 
come  for  supplying  the  government  in  order  to  obtidn 
money  which  their  necessities  made  inevitable."^ 

This  act  authorized  the  issue  of  forty  thousand 
pounds  in  bills  of  from  three  pounds  down  to  one  sliil- 
ling.  The  preamble  to  the  act  recites  the  hardshii)s  of 
his  Majesty's  subjects  within  this  colony,  and  says  that, 
though  they  had  enough  of  the  bills  of  credit  of  the 
neighboring  provinces  yet  to  pay  the  small  taxes  for 
the  support  of  government,  they  have  been  obliged  to 
cut  down  and  pay  in  their  jilate,  including,  it  is  be- 
lieved, silver  coin,  ear-rings  and  other  jewels.  Four 
thousand  pounds  of  these  bills  were  directed  to  be 
paid  to  the  treasurers  of  East  and  West  Jersey  for  the 


1.  Elmer's  History  of  Cumberland  County,  p.  122. 

2.  Ibid,  p,  123. 

3.  Ibid.  p.  123. 


Currency.  69 

redemption  of  old  bills  of  credit  and  for  other  purposes. 
The  rest  were  put  in  the  hands  of  loan  commissioners 
of  the  several  counties,  who  lent  the  money  on  mort- 
gage of  real  estate  at  five  per  cent.,  for  periods  not  ex- 
ceeding twelve  years.  The  bills  were  made  legal  ten- 
der, and  a  stay  of  execution  was  provided  for  until 
the  bills  had  been  six  weeks  in  the  hands  of  the  com- 
missioners. Subsequent  laws  provided  for  other  issues, 
amounting  in  all,  previous  to  the  revolution,  to  about 
six  hundred  thousand  pounds.  The  last  act,  which 
was  passed  in  1774,  was  not  assented  to  by  Governor 
Franklin  until  an  interval  of  ten  years  had  withdrawn 
most  of  the  previous  issues  from  circulation.  ' '  The  bills 
under  this  act  bore  date  March  26,  1776,  and  consti- 
tuted the  principal  part  of  the  currency  of  the  province 
at  the  commencement  of  the  war. ' '  ^ 

The  penalty  for  counterfeiting  the  bills  of  credit  was  death. 
The  gravity  of  the  crime  in  the  eye  of  the  law  did  not  prevent 
its  violation.  The  paper  on  which  the  bills  were  printed  was 
coarse,  somewhat  heavier  than  that  in  ordinary  use,  and  the  print- 
ing was  done  on  a  common  printing  press.  The  temptation  was 
therefore  such  that  counterfeiting  was  not  uncommon,  and  in  some 
instances  was  committed  by  those  in  high  social  position.  Four 
convicts  of  this  class  in  Morris  county,  and  one  of  less  considera- 
tion in  Sussex  county,  were  convicted  at  the  same  time  and  sen- 
tenced to  be  hung.  The  four  from  Morris  county,  by  the  efforts 
of  influential  friends,  were  reprieved  on  the  morning  of  the  day 
appointed  for  their  execution.  The  poor  convict,  without  friends, 
was  executed.  One  of  the  four  was  a  physician  highly  esteemed 
for  his  skill  and  having  a  large  medical  practice.  His  repute  was 
such  that  he  retained  his  former  relations  to  his  clients.  On  one 
occasion  after  his  pardon  he  was  in  attendance  upon  a  lady  in 
child-bearing.  After  one  of  the  throes  incident  to  the  occasion, 
she  suddenly  turned  to  him  saying,  "  Doctor,  how  did  you  feel 
that  morning  when  you  thought  you  were  going  to  be  hung  }  " 

I.  Elmer's  History  of  Cumberland  County,  N.  J.,  p.  123. 


70 


History  of  the  Oranges. 


TRAFFIC. 

In  the  earlier  years  of  East  Jersey,  as  is  tlie  case  in 
all  new  settlements,  traffic  was  chiefly  by  barter.  Coin 
was  scarce  and  the  methods  of  living  were  conformed 
to  the  productions  of  the  plantations  and  the  resources 
of  the  planters.  It  was  provided  that  taxes,  quit-rents 
and  the  settlement  of  accounts  might  be  paid  in  pro- 
duce at  prices  fixed  by  authority.  The  table  below 
illustrates  the  varied  productions  of  the  time  and  their 
recognized  prices  for  the  first  twenty-five  years  of  the 
Newark  township : 


166^. 

1678. 

1692 

Winter  wheat,  per  bushi- 

5s. 

4$.  6d. 

4S. 

Summer  do. 

4s.  6d. 

4S. 

Peas,                      " 

3s.  6d. 

Indian  Corn,         " 

3S. 

2s.  6d. 

2S.     6 

Rye. 

4S. 

3s.  6d. 

Barley,                    " 

4s. 

3s.  6d. 

Beef,  per  lb. 

2id. 

2d. 

Pork,  per  lb.           .        .        . 

1675. 

3d. 

Beef,  per  bbl. 

50s. 

40s. 

30s. 

Pork 

70s. 

60s. 

50s. 

Tobacco, 

4d, 

3d. 

3 

3d. 

In  1675  tried  tallow  at  6d.  per  lb,  ;  green  hides  at 
3d,  per  lb,  ;  dry  hides  at  6d,  per  lb.  were  made  receiv- 
able in  payment  of  taxes ;  but  after  1675,  peas  in- 
cluded, were  not  retained  as  "currency,"  In  1676 
only  wheat,  peas  and  tobacco  were  received  for  public 
charges.  In  1677,  wheat,  rye,  Indian  corn  and  to- 
bacco were  the  medium  prescribed  ;  and  in  1679  and 
1692  butter  at  6d,  was  added  to  the  articles  given  in 
the  table  of  that  year.  In  1692  the  payment  of  taxes 
in  silver  was  provided  for,  but  left  optional  with  the 
tax  payers,  ^ 

I.  See  Whitehead's  East  Jersey  under  the  Proprietors,  p.  248-9. 


Traffic.  7 1 

It  was  in  the  latter  part  of  the  twenty-five  years  we 
have  noticed  that  so  many  letters  were  sent  by  the 
first  adventurers  to  East  Jersey  to  their  friends  in 
England  and  Scotland,  commending  America  to  their 
favorable  regard.  Many  of  them  are  preserved.  Their 
testimony  is  uniform  upon  the  question  of  emigration. 
Extracts  from  one  will  illustrate  the  general  tenor  of 
all.  It  was  written  from  Elizabethtown,  January,  1685. 
The  writer  says : 

"The  woods  consist  of  several  kinds  of  Oaks,  Chesnut,  Hickory, 
Walnut,  Poplar  and  Beech ;  Cedars  grow  in  swamps  and  barrens, 
firrs  and  pines  onl^  on  barrens.  The  ground  generally  2  or  3  inches 
deep  of  black  dung  as  it  were  ;  below  that  is  reddish  mould.  What 
you  heard  of  the  product  of  the  Indian  Corn,  viz.  100  or  200  fold,  of 
20  or  30  fold  English  Wheal,  of  the  abundance  of  deer  and  wild 
horses  and  several  turkeys  and  of  the  great  plenty  of  fishes,  are  all 
true.  There  is  very  much  Cider  here ;  In  13  or  14  years  you  may 
make  100  barrells  from  your  own  planting;  the  best  fleshes  of  all 
kinds  ever  I  did  see  are  here,  tho'  in  this  respect  of  what  you  have 
heard  be  generally  tautologie ;  yet  I  found  myself  oblidged  to 
write  it  because  I  am  witness  to  the  truth  thereof,  without 
Hyperbole." 


CHAPTER  V. 


LEGISLATION  AND  THE  LAWS. 


THE  first  General  Assembly  was  convened  May  26, 
1668.  It  was  composed  of  Philip  Carteret,  Gover- 
nor, and  seven  members  of  his  Council ;  also  of  Burges- 
ses, ten  in  number ;  two  from  each  of  the  following 
places,  viz.,  Bergen,  Elizabethtown,  Newark  upon  Pish- 
awack  River,  Woodbridge,  Middletown.  The  Burges- 
ses for  Middletown  represented  Shrewsbury  also.  The 
representatives  from  Newark  were  Robert  Treat  and 
Samuel  Swaine.  ^ 

The  laws  enacted ^  under  the  Proprietors  were  in  force 
till  the  surrender  of  their  government  in  1702  ;  and 
afterwards,  to  a  considerable  degree,  changes  in  the 
code  were  made  as  the  new  order  of  government  and 
the  new  circumstances,  and  changes  of  popular  opinion 
rendered  them  necessary.  The  New  England  puritan 
spirit,  so  distinctly  seen  in  the  "Fundamental  Agree- 
ment" of  the  Newark  Associates,  imparted  to  no  incon- 
siderable degree  its  influence  in  the  penal  statutes  of 
East  Jersey.    The  offences  noted  as  capital  were  arson ; 


1.  See  Orants,  Concessions,  etc.,  p.  77. 

2.  For  tlie  terse  digest  here  given  of  the  early  laws,  see  Whitehead's  East 
Jersey  under  the  Proprietors,  pp.  239-40. 


Legislation  and  the  Laws.  jT) 

murder,  perjury  to  the  prejudice  of  life ;  stealing  any 
of  mankind  ;  burglary  and  robbery,  for  the  third  of- 
fence as  incorrigible  ;  theft  if  incorrigible  ;  smiting  or 
cursing  parents  by  children  on  complaint  of  parents 
only ;  rape  subject  to  discretion  of  court ;  gross  and  un- 
natural licentiousness ;  but  life  not  to  be  taken  save  on 
proof  of  two  or  three  witnesses.  Inhdelity  in  the  mar- 
ried life  was  made  punishable  by  divorce,  corporal 
punishment  or  banishment,  as  the  court  may  award ; 
but  in  1682,  the  parties  were  made  subject  to  a  line,  and 
were  bound  to  behave  themselves  for  one  year.  Un- 
chastity  was  at  first  punishable  by  tine,  marriage  or 
corporal  punishment ;  in  1682,  three  months  imprison- 
ment, or  a  tine  of  five  pounds,  was  incurred,  and  in 
1686,  ten  stripes  at  a  public  whipping  post  were  sub- 
stituted in  place  of  imprisonment,  upon  non-payment 
of  the  tine.  Night-walkers  or  revellers  after  9  o'clock 
at  night,  (the  time  was  afterwards  extended  one  hour,) 
were  to  be  detained  byihe  constable  till  morning,  and, 
unless  excused,  to  be  bound  over  to  appear  at  court. 

Marriages  were  to  be  published  three  times  in  some 
public  "meeting  or  kirk,"'  or  publicly  advertised  two 
weeks ;  and  to  render  them  legal,  the  consent  of  XDarents, 
masters,  or  guardians  to  be  obtained.  Horses  and 
cattle  roamed  at  large,  and  were  required  to  bear  the 
brands  of  the  town  to  which  they  belonged,  as  well  as 
the  private  marks  of  their  owners.  These  marks  were 
varied  in  their  devices,  and  were  regularly  recorded. 
The  provisions  respecting  assaults  by  cattle  upon  man 
or  beast,  trespasses  by  cattle  and  injuries  done  by  them, 
were  almost  identical  with  those  of  Scripture,  (Ex- 
odus:  xxi.)  These  were  enacted  in  1682,  at  which 
time  the  laws  relating  to  the  punishment  of  theft,  se- 
duction, injustice  to  the  widow  or  fatherless,  and  for 
damage  sustained  by  fire  from  carelessness  of  others. 


74  History  of  the  Oranges. 

were  all  made  conformable  to  the  Levitlcal  law,  (Ex- 
odus: xxii.) 

The  resistance  of  lawful  authority  by  word  or  action, 
or  the  expression  of  disrespectful  language,  with  refer- 
ence to  those  in  office,  were  made  punishable  either  by 
fine,  corporal  punishment,  or,  as  from  1675  to  1682,  by 
banishment.  Circulators  of  false  news  concerning-pub- 
lic  affairs  were  fined  ten  shillings  for  the  first  offence, 
and  for  the  second  were  "whipped  or  stocked,"  and  in 
1675,  all  liars  were  included,  incurring  for  the  second 
offence  a  fine  of  twenty  shillings.  If  the  fines  were 
not  paid  the  offenders  were  put  in  the  stocks  or  pub- 
licly whipped. 

"Concerning  the  beastly  vice  of  Drunkeness,"  the 
first  laws  inflicted  fines  of  Is.,  2s.,  and  2s.  6d.  for  the 
first  three  offences,  with  corporal  punishment,  and 
if  the  culprit  should  be  unable  to  pay,  or  if  unruly, 
he  was  to  be  put  in  the  stocks  until  sober.  After  1682, 
each  offence  incurred  a  fine  of  five  shillings,  and,  if  not 
paid,  the  stocks  for  six  hours.  Constables  not  doing 
their  duty  in  this  were  fined  ten  shillings  for  each  case 
of  neglect. 

In  1688,  each  town  was  obliged  to  keep  an  "ordi- 
nary" for  the  comfort  and  entertainment  of  strangers, 
under  a  penalty  of  forty  shillings  for  each  month's 
neglect.  None  but  the  keeper  of  the  "ordinary"  was 
permitted  to  retail  liquors  in  less  quantities  than  two 
gallons.  In  1677  the  quantity  was  reduced  to  one  gal- 
lon. In  1683  ordinary  keepers  were  debarred  the  re- 
covery of  debts  for  liquors  sold  amounting  to  five 
shillings. 

As  to  rights  of  persons,  the  laws  were  framed  in  a 
liberal  spirit.  In  1675  imprisonment  for  debt,  save 
when  fraud  was  intended,  was  prohibited.  In  1698 
the  common  law  of  England  was  assured  to  every  one. 


Schools  and  School-Houses.  75 

In  1682  it  was  provided  that  no  one  should  be  impris- 
oned except  by  the  judgment  of  his  peers,  or  the  laws 
of  the  Province.  All  courts  were  open  to  persons  of 
any  religious  persuasion  ;  they  were  allowed  to  plead 
in  their  own  way  and  manner,  either  in  person,  or  by 
their  friends  or  attorneys.  Trial  by  jury  was  confirmed, 
with  reasonable  challenges  allowed ;  all  persons  were 
bailable  except  for  capital  offences.  No  court  by  ex- 
ecution or  other  writ  could  authorize  the  sale  of  any 
man's  land  without  his  consent,  but  the  rents  and 
profits  might  be  stopped  for  the  payment  of  just  debts. 
All  prizes,  stage  plays,  games,  masques,  revels,  bull 
baitings  and  cock  fightings  which  excite  the  people 
to  rudeness,  were  to  be  discouraged  and  punished  by 
courts  of  justice,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  offence. 
Swearing  or  "taking  Gfod's  name  in  vain"  was  pun- 
ishable by  one  shilling  fine  for  each  offence,  as  early 
as  1668,  and  this  continued  to  be  the  fine  until  1682, 
when  a  special  act  provided  that  the  fine  should  be 
two  shillings  and  sixpence,  and  if  not  paid,  the 
offender  to  be  placed  in  the  stocks  or  whipped, 
according  to  his  age,  whether  under  or  over  twelve 
years.  The  observance  of  the  Lord's  day  was  re- 
quired ;  servile  work,  unlawful  recreations,  unneces- 
sary traveling  and  any  disorderly  conduct  on  that  day 
being  punishable  by  confinement  in  the  stocks  or  com- 
mon gaol,  or  by  whipping. 

SCHOOLS  AND   SCHOOL-HOUSES. 

Ten  years  after  the  Associates  came  to  Newark,  Jan- 
uary, 1676,  the  town  made  a  canvass  to  discover  if 
they  could  "find  a  competent  number  of  scholars  and 
accommodations  for  a  schoolmaster."  It  is  to  be  in- 
ferred from  this  action  that  young  children  were  few 
at  the  first,  and  that  earlier  steps  to  secure  a  teacher 


76  History  of  the  Oranges. 

were  not  called  for.  In  the  succeeding  month  a  bar- 
gain was  made  with  the  school-master  for  a  year,  "to 
do  his  faithful,  honest  and  true  endeavor  to  teach  the 
children  and  servants"  of  those  who  had  subscribed 
for  his  support,  the  reading  and  writing  of  English, 
and  also  arithmetic  (if  they  desire  it),  as  much  as  they 
are  capable  to  learn,  and  he  capable  to  teach  them, 

*  *  *  "  nowise  hindering,  but  that  he  may  make 
what  bargain  he  pleased  with  those  who  have  not  sub- 
scribed," The  school,  doubtless,  now  became  an  estab- 
lished institution,  judging  from  the  fact  that  at  a  town 
meeting  in  1714,  it  was  voted  that  the  old  floor  in  the 
meeting-house  should  be  used  for  the  making  a  floor 
in  the  school-house.  ^ 

The  only  action  taken  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Province  for  the  cause  of  education,  was  a  law 
passed  in  1693,  providing  that  the  inhabitants  of  any 
town  in  the  Province  may,  by  warrant  from  a  justice 
of  the  i)eace  of  the  county,  meet  together  and  choose 
three  men  of  the  town  to  make  a  rate  for  the  salary 
and  maintaining  of  a  school-master  as  long  a  time  as 
they  think  fit,  the  consent  of  a  majority  of  the  inhab- 
itants binding  and  obliging  the  remaining  part  of  the 
inhabitants  to  satisfy  and  pay  their  shares  and  propor- 
tion of  the  rate.  In  case  of  refusal  or  non-j)ayment, 
distress  to  be  made  on  their  goods  and  chattels.  This 
act  was  modified  in  1695,  as  it  was  found  to  be  incon- 
venient, by  reason  of  "distance  of  neighborhood."  It 
was  provided  that  three  men  be  chosen  yearly,  and 
every  year,  in  each  town  to  appoint  and  agree  with  the 
school  master,  and  also  to  nominate  the  most  conven- 
ient place  or  places  where  schools  should  be  kept  from 
time  to  time. ' 


1.  See  Newark  Town  Records,  p.  124. 

2.  See  Grants,  Concessions,  &c.,  p.  358. 


Schools  and  School-Houses.  'j'j 

We  find  an  item  in  the  account  book  of  Samuel 
Harrison,  wiiich  seems  to  fix  the  time  when  a  school- 
house  was  built  at  the  Mountain:  "1729,  June  16. 
To  sawing  for  scool  house,  00,  05.  6." 

It  was  a  framed  building,  about  20x30  feet,  with 
8-feet  posts,  roofed  with  shingles  and  sided  with  boards, 
also  ceiled  with  boards  within.  The  chimney  in  the 
corner,  built  upon  the  timbers  above,  received  the  pipe 
from  a  cast-iron  box  stove.  The  house  occupied  the 
triangle  of  ground  formed  by  the  intersection  of  the 
Swinefield  Road  with  the  Valley  Road,  at  the  turn  of 
the  former  toward  the  notch.  ^  The  door  was  in  the 
southern  gable,  the  building  standing  north-east  and 
south-west,  (recollections  of  the  old  people.)  The  three 
other  sides  were  provided  with  windows  affording  a 
free  opportunity  to  the  scholars  to  relieve  the  wear 
and  tear  of  mental  effort  by  watching  all  that  was  pass- 
ing on  the  highways  from  all  directions.  This  struc- 
ture occupied  its  original  site  till  near  the  middle  of 
the  present  century,  when  it  was  a  few  feet  to  the 
south-west  and  within  the  east  line  of  the  Valley  Road. 
Here  it  stood  and  was  used  as  a  public  school-house 
until  the  new  stone  building  was  erected  on  the  same 
street,  and  south  of  Llewellyn  Park  gate.  The  timber 
of  the  old  house  is  still  in  use,  being  an  essential  part 
of  a  barn  in  the  same  vicinity. 

Schools  were  established  and  buildings  erected  in 
the  first  half  of  the  last  century  in  other  parts  of  the 
township  ;  in  South  Orange  over  the  mountain  ;  in  the 
second  valley  at  Wardsesson  (Bloomfield),  Second 
River,  and  at  other  places.  The  grammar  school,  sus- 
tained by  the  second  i)astor  of  the  parish,  will  receive 
our  notice  hereafter. 


I.  At  that  early  day,  the  Valley  road  was  not  opened. 


78  History  of  the  Oranges. 

LAISTD   TENURES. 

The  territory  of  North  America  became  a  part  of  the 
dominion  of  England  by  right  of  discovery  in  the  reign 
of  Henry  VII.  Succeeding  kings  had  encouraged 
emigration  to  the  new  country  by  grants  to  ]olanters 
under  small  quit-rents,  payable  to  the  Crown  or  its 
grantees.  They  also  permitted  and  encouraged  the 
planters  to  purchase  the  soil  of  the  native  Indians,  not 
because  of  necessity  or  defect  of  valid  title  in  the 
Crown,  or  its  grantees,  but  to  avoid  war  with  the  sav- 
ages, and  to  encourage  a  friendship  and  correspond- 
ence in  the  hope  of  converting  them  to  the  Christian 
faith. 

March  12,  1663-4,  Charles  II.  granted  all  the  terri- 
tories called  by  the  Dutch  New  Netlierland^  including 
part  of  the  State  of  New  York  and  all  New  Jersey,  to 
his  brother  the  Duke  of  York,  afterwards  James  II. 
Three  months  thereafter,  June  24,  1664,  the  duke  re- 
leased to  John  Lord  Berkely  and  Sir  George  Carteret 
so  much  of  his  grant  as  formed  the  provinces  of  East 
andjWest  Jersey.  These  grantees  who,  with  those  who 
became  associated  with  them,  were  termed  the  Lords 
Proprietors  of  Nova  Cesarea,  or  New  Jersey,  published 
their  "  Concessions  "  ^  to  attract  immigration  to  their 
domains.  They  offered  lands  on  liberal  terms,  guar- 
anteed liberty  of  conscience  in  religious  belief,  and 
liberty  of  action  in  all  religious  concernments,  provided 
it  was  not  used  to  licentiousness,  or  to  the  civil  injury 
of  others.  They  offered  a  form  of  government  secur- 
ing representation  by  the  people  in  General  Assembly, 
to  which  was  committed  the  work  of  legislation  and 
taxation  ;  the  doctrine  for  which,  a  century  later,  ^they 


I.  See  New  Jersey  Archives,  I.,  28. 


Land  Tenures.  79 

so  strenuously  and  successfully  contended,  that  repre- 
sentation is  not  to  be  separated  from  taxation.  ^ 

The  associates  of  Newark  found  in  these  concessions 
of  the  Lords  Proprietors  the  liberty  they  sought  for 
when,  in  1666,  they  migrated  to  East  Jersey  and 
founded  their  homes  on  the  banks  of  the  Passaic.  ^ 

It  was  ordered  that  all  lands  should  be  divided  by 
general  lots,  none  less  than  two  thousand  one  hundred 
acres,  nor  more  than  twenty-one  thousand  acres  in  each 
lot,  except  cities  and  towns.  The  same  to  be  "divided 
into  seven  parts  ;  one-seventh  to  the  proprietors,  their 
heirs  and  assigns  ;  the  remainder  to  persons  as  they 
come  'to  plant  the  same,  in  such  proportions  as  are 
allowed."  3 

The  Governor  or  his  deputy  gave  to  every  person  to 
whom  land  was  due  a  warrant,  signed  and  sealed  and 
directed  to  the  Surveyor  General,  commanding  him  to 
lay  out,  limit  and  bound  the  acres  in  their  due  propor- 
tion, the  Register  recording  the  same  and  attesting  the 
record  upon  the  warrant.  The  annual  rent  of  lands 
thus  granted  was  one  half  penny  per  acre,  lawful 
money  of  England,  or  in  merchantable  pay.  * 

In  1672  the  Proprietors  issued  a  "Declaration,"  con- 
firmed by  King  Charles  II.,  of  the  "true  intent  and 


1.  See  Grants,  Concessions,  etc.,  in  Carteret's  Time,  p.  15. 

2.  Geo.  Scot,  of  Pitlochie,  in  his  "  Model  of  the  Government  of  East 
Jersey,"  says:  "To  be  a  planter  nothing  is  required  but  to  acknowledging 
of  one  Almighty  God  and,  to  have  a  share  in  the  Government,  a  simple  pro- 
fession'of  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  without  descending  into  any  other  of  the 
differences  among  christians,  only  that  religion  may  not  be  a  cloak  for  dis- 
turbance. Whoever  comes  into  the  magistrature  must  declare  they  hold 
not  themselves  in  conscience  obliged  for  Religions  sake,  to  make  an  altera- 
tion, or  endeavor  to  turn  out  their  partners  in  the  government  because  they 
differ  in  opinion  from  them.  And  this  is  no  more  than  to  follow  that  great 
rule  to  do  as  they  would  be  done  by."    {E.  J.  under  the  Proprietors, p.  jgg.) 

3.  See  Grants,  Concessions,  etc.,  p.  23. 

4.  Ibid.  p.  3. 


8o  History   of  the  Oranges. 

meaning"  and  "explanation"  of  their  concessions  to 
the  planters,  so  restricting  the  rights  of  the  latter  as  to 
bring  the  grantees  of  both  East  and  West  Jersey  into 
collision  with  themselves.  ^ 

Whether  from  this  condition  of  affairs,  or  from  dis- 
satisfaction with  the  pecuniary  success  of  their  adven- 
ture in  colonization,  does  not  appear,  but  the  fact  re- 
mains that  the  two  Lords  Proprietors  agreed  upon  a 
partition  of  their  domain.  They  executed  mutual 
releases  to  each  other,  the  line  of  division  being  sub- 
stantially the  same  as  that  marking  what  is  now  con- 
ventionally called  East  and  West  Jersey.  Berkely 
sold  his  moiety  to  Penwick  and  Byllinge  for  £1000. 

Carteret,  proprietary  of  East  Jersey,  died  in  1679, 
having  derived  so  little  benefit  from  his  venture  that 
he  bequeathed  his  propriety  to  trustees,  to  be  sold  for 
the  benefit  of  his  creditors.  ^  The  trustees,  conse- 
quently, sold  East  Jersey  in  1682,  to  twelve  persons. 
They  were  called  the  twelve  Proprietors  of  East  Jersey. 
These  twelve  conveyed  a  half  part  of  their  interest  to 
other  twelve  in  the  same  year.  This  conveyance  was 
confirmed  by  a  release  from  the  Duke  of  York  to  all 
the  grantees  as  the  twenty-four  Proprietors  of  the 
Province  of  East  Jersey,  with  all  the  royalties  and  the 
rights  of  government.  The  release  was  dated  March 
14.  1682. 

The  assigns  of  Berkely  and  Carteret  in  the  two 
provinces,  after  their  ineffectual  efforts  of  twenty  years 
to  maintain  good  order  under  the  grant  of  the  Duke 
of  York,  surrendered  all  their  i^owers  of  government 
to  the  Crown.  It  was  accepted  at  the  Court  of  St. 
James  on  the  17th  of  April,  1702.  Immediately  there- 
after Lord  Cornbury  was  appointed  Governor  of  the 


1.  See  Grants,  Concessions,  etc.,  p.  32. 

2.  See  Gordon's  History  of  New  Jersey,  p.  40. 


Land   Tenures.  8i 

Province  of  New  Jersey,  and  coming  duly  accredited 
to  America,  convened  the  first  General  Assembly  under 
the  Crown  in  August,  1703. 

After  the  surrender  of  the  government  to  the  Crown, 
the  Proprietors  of  East  Jersey  met  from  time  to  time 
to  consider  tlie  rights  of  claimants  to  their  unai^pro- 
priated  lands,  and  to  grant,  or  order,  Avarrants  and 
surveys  to  such  as  they  judged  had  a  right  to  the 
same.  The  return  of  such  surveys,  signed  by  the  Sur- 
veyor General,  and  duly  recorded,  gave  a  title  to  hold 
lands  in  severalty.  In  doing  this  they  followed,  as 
they  believed,  the  Constitution  of  New  Jersey,  so  far 
as  the  change  of  the  government  from  a  proprietors'  to 
a  king's  government  vrould  admit  of  without  regard 
to  any  mode  or  practice  of  the  Proprietors  of  West 
Jersey.  "^ 

The  dissensions  between  the  planters  and  the  land 
proprietors  growing  out  of  charges,  on  both  sides,  of 
breach  of  covenants,  and  the  more  bitter  controversies 
over  Indian  titles,  do  not  require  a  notice  here.  For 
nearly  fifty  years  they  were  a  disturbing  element  in 
the  history  of  the  Province ;  perhaps  nowhere  more  so 
than  just  here  in  these  Newark  Mountains.  The  pro- 
gress of  this  history  will  require  some  references  to 
them.  The  more  they  are  studied  the  more  perplex- 
ing become  the  questions  of  right.  Certain  it  is  that 
the  best  of  men  and  those  of  the  highest  moral  purpose 
were  on  each  side. 

The  title  to  Newark  lands  given  and  accepted  by  the 
associates  was  as  valid  as  was  the  grant  from  the 
English  Crown  to  the  Duke  of  Yorlv.     The  covenants 


I.  The  Board  of  Proprietors  of  East  Jersey  still  exists.     All  waste  and 
unappropriated  lands  belong  to  the  Proprietors,   who    hold  a  meeting   an 
nually  at  Perth  Amboy.     The  Board  celebrated  its  Bi-Centennial  Anniver- 
sary in  that  city  November  25th,  1884. 
6 


82  History  of  the  Oranges. 

assumed  by  the  grantees  in  its  acceptance  were  equally 
valid. 

With  the  third  division  of  lands  began  their  occu- 
pation by  permanent  settlers.  A  general  desire  pre- 
vailed to  hold  them.  The  facility  with  which  they 
were  brought  into  subjection  made  the  holders  am- 
bitious to  increase  their  holdings  as  they  had  opportu- 
nity. In  1692  the  Council  of  Proprietors  was  appealed 
to  by  the  people  of  Newark,  representing  that  they 
ought  to  have  some  recompense  out  of  their  "unap- 
propriated lands  for  the  expense  at  which  they  had 
been  in  the  purchase  thereof  from  the  Indians."  This 
representation  being  thought  reasonable,  the  Proprie- 
tors agreed  "to  allow  to  old  settlers  in  Newark  who 
had  obtained  patents,  one  hundred  acres  apiece  more 
than  they  were  entitled  to  by  the  concessions,  and  that 
they  should  have  that  hundred  acres  for  six  pence 
sterling  yearly  qnit-rent,  instead  of  four  shillings  and 
two  pence  per  annum,  which  at  one  half  penny  per 
acre,  they  were  liable  to  by  the  concessions."  ^ 

Warrants  were  accordingly  granted  for  upwards  of  six 
thousand  acres,  the  most  of  which  was  at  six  pence  per 
one  hundred  acres.  There  were  three  general  warrants 
dated  April  27,  1694 :  two  thousand  and  twenty  acres 
to  nine  grantees  ;  one  thousand  nine  hundred  acres  to 
fifteen  grantees  ;  and  on  April  10,  1696,  two  thousand 
four  hundred  and  nine  acres  to  twenty-six  grantees ; 
in  all  six  thousand  three  hundred  and  twenty-nine 
acres  to  fifty-five  grantees,  in  amounts  varying  from 
twenty-three  to  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres  each. 
Their  names  at  this  day  are  familiar  in  their  posterity 
to  all  the  dwellers  of  the  Newark  Mountains,  to  wit : 
Day,  Harrison,  Crane,  Bond,  Pierson,  Tichenor,  Davis, 


I.  See  Elizabethtown  Bill  in  Chancery,  (Representation  of  the  Proprietors 
of  Eastern  Division  of  New  Jersey,)  p.  36. 


Land  Tenures.  83 

Morris,  Ward,  Camp,  Baldwin,  Canfield,  Freeman, 
Ball,  Brown,  Lindsley,  Lyons,  Wheeler,  Kitcliell,  Dod, 
Richards,  Bruen,  Tomx3kins.  The  names  of  others: 
Ogxlen,  Sargeant,  Treat,  R-iggs,  Lamson  and  Swaine, 
have  disappeared  from  the  annals  of  onr  day. 

The  eastern  slope  of  the  First  Monntain  and  the  lands 
at  and  near  its  base  were  the  first  to  invite  settlers. 
There  is  a  tradition  that  a  house  was  bnilt  by  one 
Smith  on  the  Mountain  and  on  the  farm  of  Deacon 
Amos  Harrison,  the  homestead  of  which  was  Walnut 
Cottage  on  the  Yalley  Road.  The  deacon's  son,  Ahi- 
ather,  who  inherited  the  property,  said  to  a  neighbor  1 
about  fifty  years  since  :  "I  have  to-day  ploughed  up 
the  comer  stones  of  the  first  house  that  was  built  on  the 
mountain."  There  is  no  known  record  of  its  inhab- 
itant. These  relics  of  a  building  were  near  the  house 
of  Anthony  Oliff,  who  located  sixty  acres  in  1678. 
His  house  was  a  few  feet  north  of  the  stone  bridge  in 
Llewellyn  Park,  where  Tulip  Avenue  intersects  Oak 
Bend.  The  old  cherry  trees  near  his  house,  and  mark- 
ing the  spot,  were  standing  in  1852,  when  the  park  was 
laid  out.  Tulij^  Avenue  is  laid  on  the  path  used  by 
Oliff  in  his  approach  to  the  highway  from  the  town  at 
the  river  to  the  mountain.  It  was  called  Tony's  Path, 
and  was  known  to  the  old  residents  as  such  till  it  re- 
ceived its  present  name.  Oliff  died  without  issue 
March  16,  1723,  aet.  87.  His  gravestone  is  the  oldest 
in  the  old  burial  ground. 

Matthew  Williams  came  to  Newark  and  was  admit- 
ted a  planter  in  1680.  A  home  lot  assigned  to  him  was 
a  part  of  a  second  division  on  the  hill  near  the  town. 
He  was  a  son  of  Matthew,  of  Weathersfield,  Connecti- 
cut Colony,  1636.     He  was  at  Branford  with  those  who 


I.  Jesse  "Williams. 


84  History   of  the    Oranges. 

came  to  Newark.  He,  however,  migrated,  with  his 
neighbors,  to  Long  Island  instead  of  to  Newark,  nnd  re- 
mained there  until  his  departure  for  the  West  Indies. 


TTtam^iy  wif/^a^ 


In  Hotton's  Record  of  Emigration  is  the  following 
record:  "In  Jan.  14,  1678,  Matthew  Williams  was 
granted  a  ticket  of  emigration  from  Barbadoes  to  the 
Colonies  with  his  servant,^  and  James  Maynard." 

Soon  after  Xh^  third  division  he  took  up  lands  near 
the  Mountain  at  "the  North  Corner,"  in  1686.  In  1688, 
he  increased  his  acres  there  by  giving  his  home  lot,  with 
many  imj^rovements,  to  George  Day,  in  exchange  for 
two  tracts  at  the  Mountain,  one  of  which  was  contig- 
uous to  the  land  he  had  located,  and  the  other  was, 
probably,  on  the  north  side  of  Main  Street,  near  Hillyer 
Street.  It  is  supposed  that  the  earlier  locators  occu- 
pied their  lands  before  warrants  were  granted  and  sur- 
veys made.  The  earliest  surveys  were  made  in  1684. 
The  appointment  of  "surveyors  to  layout  highways 
as  far  as  the  Mountain  and  passages  to  all  lands,"  in 
1681, 2  proves  occupation  at  that  date. 

Matthew  Williams  was  born  in  1651,  and  died  No- 
vember 12,  1732,  aged  81.  His  descendants  were  nu- 
merous. Some  of  them  are  found  to  this  day  at  .the 
"  North  Corner,"  living  upon  the  lands  of  their  fathers. 
On  migrating  from  Connecticut  he  left  there  a  brother, 
Amos.  The  latter  never  settled  here,  though  he  visited 
his  brother,  and  it  is  said  became  owner  of  some  lands. 
He  had  a  son,  Samuel,  who  came  as  a  settler,  and  took 
up  land  on  the  top  of  the  First  Mountain.     Samuel 


1.  Slavery  was  recognized  by  tlie  Mother  country.     Carteret  brought  with 
him  eighteen,  whose  names  are  given,  and  he  imported  others  afterwards. 

2.  See  Newark  Town  Records,  p.  86. 


Land  Tenures.  85 

died  ill  1812,  aged  99,  leaving  a  numerous  iDOsterity 
who  settled  around  him.  St.  Cloud  now  covers  the  old 
AVilliams  farms  and  homesteads.  The  homestead  of 
Samuel,  now  modified,  stands  diagonally  opposite  the 
St.  Cloud  Presbyterian  Church. 

Samuel  Harrison  (2)  was  an  early  settler  at  the  Moun- 
tain. He  was  the  grand-son  of  Sergeant  Richard,  a 
///f     ^  Branford  Associate. 

0^>yf}nr  /Y^'^^'^^i^'T}  ^^^^^  remained  on 
€  his  home  lot  in  the 

town.  Samuel  (2)  first  settled  about  1720,  on  land 
west  of  Wigwam  Brook.  His  house  was  at  the  turn 
of  the  Swinefield  Road,  where  it  intersects  the  Valley 
Road.  About  the  year  1769  he  built  a  house  which 
stood  upon  what  is  now  the  corner  of  Valley  Street 
and  Lakeside  Avenue.  This  was  his  home  till  his 
death  in  1776.  His  son,  Samuel,  wlio  never  married, 
and  who  died  at  the  age  of  91,  lived  witli  him  in  this 
house.  It  was  occupied  also  by  his  grand-son.  Major 
Aaron  Harrison,  till  his  death.  The  house  was  re- 
cently removed  to  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the 
triangle  where  the  first  school-house  was  built,  at  the 
.  intersection  of   Val- 

C^i^y>*^n^  ^i^o^^f^-^C.^^'^^^ ley  Road    with    the 

^  Eagle    Rock    Road. 

It  is  now  used  as  a  wheelwright  and  blacksmith  shop. 
His  descendants,  through  his  sons,  Amos  and  Matthew, 
occupied  the  east  slope  of  the  Mountain;  nearly  all 
the  acres  now  constituting  Llewellyn  Park  from  the 
Mt.  Pleasant  Turnpike  north,  to  the  Williams  land  on 
the  corner. 

The  tribes  of  Joseph,  George  and  Daniel,  also  sons 
of  Sergeant  Richard  Harrison,  were  numerous.  They 
settled  through  Joseph  (2)  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Mountain,  and  beyond  it  at  Caldwell ;  and  through 


86  History  of  the   Oranges. 

Stephen,  brother  of  Joseph  (2),  on  the  ridge  through 
which  Harrison  Street  is  now  laid,  and  east  of  it ; 
Stephen's  sons,  Stephen  (2),  Jotham  and  Daniel  hav- 
ing large  holdings  contiguous.  Joseph  (1)  had  one 
hundred  acres  fronting  on  the  north  side  of  the  high- 
way, now  Main  Street,  from  a  point  two  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  west  of  Ridge  Street  to  Parrow  Creek,  and 
bounded  north  by  the  lands  of  the  Williams. 

The  tribes  of  George  and  Daniel  Harrison,  located 
themselves  in  Bloomfield. 

Azariah  and  Nathaniel  Crane,  sons  of  Jasper,  were 
large  land  owners.     Their  lands  were  bounded  south 

by  the  Swinefield  Road,  east  by  the  Cranetown  Road, 
now  Park  Street,  west  by  Wigwam  Brook,  which  was 
the  division  line  between  the  Crane  lands  and  those  of 
the  Harrisons  and  Williams,  and  on  the  north  by 
Antony's  Brook  at  Montclair,  the  northern  tributary 
of  Second  River.  The  family  of  Crane  held  also  land 
on  the  south  side  of  the  Northfield  Road  to  the  summit 
of  the  Mountain.  It  afterwards  came  into  the  posses- 
sion of  Simeon  Harrison  (1),  being  conveyed  ^o  him 
by  the  executors  of  Caleb  Crane.  There  is  a  tradi- 
tion that  when  the  Lords  Proprietors  claimed  the  pay- 
ments of  the  qait-rents  for  lands  taken  by  Azariah 
and  Nathaniel  Crane,  they  brought  in  a  bill  for  their 
services  as  surveyors  in  the  employ,  of  the  Proprietors 
as  an  offset.  Their  bill  was  not  accepted,  and  the  con- 
troversy was  finally  settled  in  the  Supreme  Court  in 
favor  of  the  surveyors. 

John  Condit  (Conduit,  Cundit),  in  1690  was  in  New- 
ark, where  he  purchased  nineteen  acres  on  Mill  Brook 


Controversy  with  Lords  Proprietors.      %"! 

plain.  His  will  was  probated  1714.  He  left  a  son, 
Peter,  who  married  Mary,  daughter  of  Samuel  Har- 
rison (2).  Peter  was  the  progenitor  of  the  tribes  of 
Condit  in  Essex  County,  and,  through  his  sons,  Peter 
and  Philip,  in  Morris  County.  Samuel,  his  eldest  son, 
had  lands  in  the  Second  Valley,  where  he  located, 
about  1720.  John,  Nathaniel  and  Isaac  remained  east 
of  the  Mountain.  John  was  the  only  one  who  had 
lands  on  the  south  side  of  the  Main  Street  from  Scot- 
land Street,  or  near  it,  to  the  vicinity  of  Parrow  Brook. 
The  family  and  tribes  of  Dod  were  chiefly  in  Bloom- 
field,  as  were  also  those  of  Ward,  Davis,  Baldwin. 
Those  of  Peck,  Canfield,  Jones,  Munn,  Hedden,  were 
in  the  eastern  parts  of  East  Orange.  Those  of  Linds- 
ley,  Pierson,  Ball,  Freeman,  Riggs,  Bruen,  Brown, 
Tichenor,  Young,  were  the  primitive  settlers  of  South 
Orange.  The  Camps  were  in  Camptown,  now  Irving- 
ton. 

CONTROVERSY   WITH   THE    LORDS   PROPRIETORS. 

Tlie  Duke  of  York  having  received  from  his  brother, 
Charles  II.,  in  1664,  a  grant  for  all  the  lands  lying 
between  the  Connecticut  River  and  the  Delaware  Bay, 
fitted  out  a  fleet  consisting  of  four  armed  vessels  in 
April  of  that  year,  to  take  possession  of  New  Amster- 
dam. ^  The  expedition  was  under  the  command  of 
Col.  Richard  Nichols,  to  whom  the  duke  granted  a 
commission  to  serve  as  his  Deputy  Governor  within 
his  grant.  The  surrender  of  New  Amsterdam  occurred 
in  the  August  following.  ^ 

To  the  English  on  the  west  end  of  Long  Island  the 
change  of  government  was  very  acceptable,  and  an 
association  was  immediately  formed  to  go  to  New 

1.  See  Whitehead's  East  Jersey  under  the  Proprietors,  p.  25. 

2.  Ibid.  p.  26. 


88  History  of  the  Oranges. 

York  and  secure  from  the  Governor  the  liberty  to  pur- 
chase and  settle  a  plantation.  In  September  of  the 
same  year  liberty  was  granted  to  purchase  of  the  In- 
dians, and  settle  a  parcel  of  land  upon  After  Cull 
Baye.  ^ 

The  purchase  was  made  of  the  Sagamores  in  Octo- 
ber, and  a  deed  obtained  of  what  became  known  as  the 
Elizabethtown  purchase.  The  associate  purchasers 
submitted  the  transaction  to  Gfovernor  JS'ichols,  who 
gave  official  confirmation  of  their  title  by  grant  in  due 
form. 

In  the  next  year,  August,  1665,  a  ship  bringing 
Philip  Carteret,  with  a  company  of  about  thirty  per- 
sons, appeared  at  Elizabethtown  Point.  The  com- 
mander presented  his  papers  to  Governor  Nichols, 
and  his  commission  as  Governor  from  Lord  Berkely 
and  Sir  George  Carteret,  to  whom  the  Duke  of  York 
had  granted  the  territory  of  East  Jersey,  after  Nichols 
had  received  his  commission  to  dispossess  the  Dutch 
at  New  Amsterdam. 

The  Associates  of  Elizabethtown  had  acted  in  good 
faith  in  making  their  purchase,  and  had  received  the 
confirmation  of  Governor  Nichols,  while  yet  unac- 
quainted with  the  fact  that  the  country  was  no  longer 
a  i)art  of  his  government,  or  subject  to  his  control. 
They  were  not  disposed  to  waive  the  rights  which  they 
believed  had  been  acquired  by  them.  Notwithstand- 
ing their  claim  to  the  soil,  it  does  not  appear  to  have 
prevented  a  harmonious  co-operation  with  Governor 
Carteret  in  forwarding  the  prosperity  of  the  new  set- 
tlement. 2 

The  purchase  from  the  natives  of  the  Elizabethtown 
territory,  with  the  concessions  of  the  Lords  Proprie- 

1.  See  Whitehead's  East  Jersey  under  the  Proprietors,  p.  42. 

2.  Ibid.  p.  64, 


Controversy  with  Lords  Proprietors.       89 

tors,  became  a  source  of  controversy,  from  the  year 
1670,  when  these  patents  were  given,  and  the  quit- 
rents  for  the  lands  ceded  by  the  latter  became  due. 
The  planters  claimed  to  have  a  clear  title  to  tlieir  lands 
in  fee,  while  the  Proprietors  held  that  their  title  to 
the  same  was  from  the  Crown,  and  that  quit-rents  were 
due  to  them  as  owners  of  the  soil.  They  claimed  that 
the  deed  from  the  natives  extinguished  their  right  of 
occupancy  and  no  more.  The  question  at  issue  was  a 
disturbing  element  for  a  long  series  of  years,  and, 
finally,  gave  origin  to  the  historically  famous  Bill  in 
Chancery,  in  1745,  when  the  grievances  were  fully  set 
forth  as  the  complainants  understood  them. 

The  settlers  of  Elizabethtown  and  of  Newark  were 
of  like  traditionary  sympathies  in  religious  oi^inions 
and  in  their  methods  of  action  in  civil  affairs.  While 
some  controversies  arose  between  them  upon  boundary 
lines,  they  were  cordial  in  their  neighborhood  rela- 
tions, and  their  interests  as  a  community  of  planters 
were  identical. 

The  liberal  acts  of  concession  made  by  Berkely  and 
Carteret  in  16G6,  were  satisfactory  to  the  people.  Their 
rights  in  matters  of  religion  and  of  civil  government 
were  as  well  protected  and  as  liberal  as  they  are  to  us 
of  this  day.  Upon  the  death  of  Charles  II.  the  Duke 
of  York  succeeded  to  the  throne  as  James  II.,  1685. 
Twenty  years  had  now  elapsed  since  he  conveyed  East 
Jersey  to  his  friends,  Berkely  and  Carteret,  and  they, 
in  their  turn,  had  bestowed  their  grants  and  conces- 
sions. James  II.,  as  King,  now  aimed  to  make  the 
territory,  which,  by  different  patents  and  other  doc- 
uments he  had  made  and  confirmed  to  others,  "more 
dependent"  upon  his  sovereign  will  and  pleasure. 
For  a  series  of  years  the  Proprietors  made  earnest, 
but  fruitless,  efforts   to  secure  the  rights   originally 


90  History  of  the  Oranges. 

granted  to  tliem.  They  represented  to  the  king  that 
they  had  not  received  the  province  as  a  benevolence, 
but  had  expended  for  it  twelve  thousand  pounds,  and 
that,  too,  under  his  own  confirmation  of  their  title  and 
his  assurance  of  protection.  They  had  reaped  but  few 
of  the  advantages  expected  from  the  settlement  and 
imi)rovemeut  of  the  province.  The  future  seemed  to 
them  to  afford  little  promise.  Prompted  by  these  con- 
siderations they  resolved  to  make  a  formal  surrender 
of  their  patent,  and  to  abandon  a  hopeless  contest  for 
their  previously  conceded  privileges,  obtaining  only 
the  king' s  guarantee  to  respect  the  rights  in  the  soil.  ^ 

After  the  surrender  of  the  proprietary  government 
to  the  Crown  in  1702,  Lord  Cornbury,  the  first  Gover- 
nor under  Queen  Anne,  made  himself  obnoxious  to  the 
people  by  his  acts  of  tyranny  and  oppression.  ' '  Their 
indignation  was  kindled  by  his  despotic  rale,  savage 
bigotry,  insatiable  avarice  and  injustice,  not  only  to 
the  public  but  even  to  his  private  creditors."  ^ 

His  administration  of  six  years  was  a  disgrace  to 
himself,  and  a  source  of  evil  in  the  province  by  foster- 
ing among  the  planters  their  hatred  to  the  Crown  and 
their  hostility  towards  the  Proprietors. 

These  facts,  from  a  mass  of  others  of  the  same  effect, 
illustrate  the  lack  of  success  exjDerienced  by  the  Pro- 
prietors themselves,  in  their  venture  in  settling  their 
lands  in  the  New  World.  They  came  to  East  Jersey 
with  little  means  and  little  principle.  Bancroft  (His- 
tory of  United  States,  Vol.  II.,  p.  130,)  says  of  them : 
"Avarice  is  the  vice  of  declining  years ;  most  of  the 
Proprietors  were  past  middle  life.  They  l^egged  the 
country  under  a  pretence  of  a  '  pious  zeal  for  the  pro- 


1.  Whitehead,  East  Jersey  under  the  Proprietors,  p.  I5g. 

2.  Smith's  History  of  New  Jersey,  p.  352. 


Anti-Renters.  91 

pagation  of  the  Gospel,'  and  their  sole  object  was  the 
increase  of  their  own  wealth  and  dignity." 

After  the  surrender  of  the  proprietary  government, 
the  Constitution  of  the  General  Assembly,  though 
good  in  itself,  became  a  source  of  great  dissatisfaction 
to  the  people.  The  lower  house  was  made  up  of  rep- 
resentatives elected  by  the  people,  and  the  upi^er 
house  by  the  Governor  and  his  Council.  The  latter 
house  too  often  favored  the  purposes  of  the  Proprie- 
tors, and  thwarted,  or  set  at  naught,  the  po^Dular  will. 
In  1738,  Lewis  Morris,  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  re- 
ceived the  commission  of  Governor.  He  had  previ- 
ously been  a  man  of  the  people,  when  in  opposition 
to  the  royal  governors  who  had  preceded  him.  When 
he  became  a  royal  governor  himself,  he  was  overbear- 
ing, exacting  and  selfish  to  such  a  degree  that  his 
career  was  one  of  discord  in  the  legislature,  and  of  in- 
justice to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Province.  His  ser- 
vices of  eight  years  were  terminated  by  his  death  in 
1746. 1 

ANTI-EENTERS. 

During  the  eighty  years  in  which  the  events  con- 
concisely  given  above  were  transiDiring,  the  planters  of 
Newark  township  increased  in  numbers  and  in  wealth. 
With  them  there  was  an  under-current  of  joeaceful 
life  promotive  of  industry  and  of  self-reliance.  Their 
rulers  failed  to  secure  their  respect  and  confidence. 
The  proprietors  of  their  lands  had  failed  in  any  good 
degree  to  obtain  their  quit-rents.  The  sons  and  grand- 
sons of  the  original  settlers  located  on  unoccuiDied 
lands,  or  took  deeds  from  the  Indians.  To  the  second 
and  third  generations,  the  i)aying  of  quit-rents  was 
only  a  tradition  of  the  past.     Many  more  settlers  had 


I.   See  Field's  Provincial  Courts  of  New  Jersey,  pp.  70-83. 


92  History  of  the  Oranges. 

come  in  to  add  to  the  natural  increase  of  the  first 
associates.  In  1701,  a  large  Indian  purchase  was  made, 
the  deed  for  which  was  lost  by  fire,  and  a  new  deed 
was  obtained  about  1744,  from  certain  descendants  of 
the  old  Sagamores.  In  1745,  another  large  Indian  j)ur- 
chase  was  made  by  an  association  formed  for  the  pur- 
pose, No  proprietary  claims  were  recognized.  It  was 
fifteen  miles  square  and  was  known  as  the  Horseneck 
purchase. 

The  time  for  a  contest  with  the  Proprietors  was  now 
fully  ripe.  Lewis  Morris  was  the  royal  Governor  ;  his 
son  was  chief  justice  of  the  colony.  Both  were  claim- 
ants, as  holders  of  proprietary  rights.  The  best  legal 
counsel  in  New  York  and  in  the  Province  of  ISTew 
Jersey,  was  retained  —  other  counsel  and  attorneys, 
though  api^lied  to,  refused  to  undertake  the  cause  of 
the  planters,  being  awed  by  the  power  of  the  opulent 
claimants.  These  instituted  suits  at  law  for  the  re- 
covery of  their  quit-rents  ;  instituted  actions  of  eject- 
ment ;  arrested  and  committed  to  jail  those  who  cut 
timber,  or  who  ran  a  surveyor' s  chain  upon  plantations 
which  had  been  held  in  peaceable  possession  for  more 
than  sixty  years. 

The  contest  between  the  grantees  of  Berkely  and 
Carteret,  and  the  claimants  under  Indian  titles,  had 
slept  for  many  years.  The  measures  now  adopted  by 
the  Proi)rietors  led  these  claimants  to  associate  them- 
selves for  their  defence.  They  set  at  defiance  the  laws, 
broke  open  the  jail  in  1745,  and  set  at  liberty  a  person 
imprisoned  at  the  suit  of  the  Proprietors.  "For  sev- 
eral years  thereafter  all  persons  confined  for  like  cause, 
or  on  charge  of  high  treason  and  rebellion  for  resist- 
ing the  laws,  were  released  at  the  will  of  the  insur- 
gents ;  so  that,  in  this  respect,  the  arm  of  government 
was  wholly  paralyzed. "     Persons  who  had  long  held 


Anti-Renters.  93 

under  the  Proprietors  were  forcibly  ejected,  others 
were  compelled  to  take  leases  from  landlords  whom 
they  were  not  disi)osed  to  acknowledge,  while  those 
who  had  the  conrage  to  stand  out,  were  threatened 
with,  and  in  many  cases  received,  personal  violence.  ^ 
In  1750  the  inhabitants  of  Newark  Township,  to  the 
number  of  four  hundred  and  four,  petitioned  the  Crown 
upon  their  grievances.  They  represented  that  from 
1677  to  1744-5,  they  had  purchased  lands  from  the 
Indians  then  in  possession,  the  acknowledged  owners 
of  the  soil  having  refused  to  allow  or  permit  a  sur- 
veyor, or  settlement,  without  a  i)recedent  purchase, 
thus  obliging  them  to  compound  with  the  native  occu- 
pants ;  that  the  town  of  Newark  and  out  settlements 
contained  from  "ten  to  twelve  hundred  houses  and 
families  dependent,  with  a  few  excej^tions  only, 
on  titles  derived  as  in  the  manner  above  set  forth ;" 
that  the  present  owners  had  been  in  possession  "some 
twenty,  some  forty  and  some  four-score  years  ;"  that 
it  appears  to  them  (the  Proi)rietors,)  "that  the  grant 
of  the  Duke  of  York  must  be  understood  to  intend  no 
more  than  a  grant  of  a  x^ower  of  government  over,  and 
a  right  to  purchase  those  lands  which  the  Indians  had 
the  occupancy  of,  and  by  the  law  of  nature  and  na- 
tions had  a  right  to,  and  could  not  justly  be  deprived 
of  without  a  voluntary  agreement  to  part  with  them. 
That  such  purchases  must  necessarily  be  made  to  vest 
the  fee  and  soil  in  the  Crown  ;"  that  the  improvements 
of  the  same,  paying  taxes  and  rates  are  a  just  founda- 
tion of  title,  and  that  thereby  the  present  possessors 
are  entitled  to  their  quiet  and  peaceable  enjoyment. 
The  petitioners  then  say:  "We  have  the  witness  of 
our  own  conscience  and  the  testimony  of  our  own 


I.  See  New  Jersey  Archives,  Vol.  VII.,  pp.  210-226  ;  also  402-458. 


94  History  of  the  Oranges. 

coiintrymen  universally  (the  Proprietors  and  their  de- 
scendants only  excepted)  that  we  have  demeaned  our- 
selves with  entire  submission  to  the  laws,  paying  all 
dues,  duties,  taxes  and  rates  whatsoever,  for  the  sup- 
port of  government  at  all  times,  as  readily  as  any  of 
your  Majesty's  good  and  faithful  subjects  have  done, 
and  behaved  ourselves  in  all  other  respects  as  quiet 
and  faithful  subjects,"  except  as  they  were  "led  on 
to  oppose  force  to  the  injurious  oppressive  proceedings 
of  their  adversaries."  1 

The  distracting  events  of  this  period  of  our  colonial 
history,  signalized  the  latter  j^-ears  of  the  long  pastor- 
ate of  Rev.  Da^niel  Taylor.  Many  of  the  leading  men 
in  the  parish — his  most  worthy  men — were  anti-renters. 
He  was  a  holder  himself  of  lands,  and  an  associate  in 
the  fifteen-mile  purchase.  As  the  guide  of  his  people 
in  morals  and  religion,  and  recognized  as  knowing 
something  of  law,  he  was,  doubtless,  as  the  clergy  at 
that  day  were  apt  to  be,  a  leader  in  civil  affairs.  He 
had  the  courage  of  his  convictions,  and,  from  what 
has  come  down  to  us  in  the  history  of  his  day,  he  did 
not  hesitate  to  give  expression  to  them.  Nothing  is 
on  record  to  discredit  him  as  a  Christian  teacher  and 
conscientious  citizen.     In  1746  — 

' '  A   BRIEF   VINDICATION    OF  THE  PUECHASEKS  AGAINST 
THE   PROPEIETOES   IN   A   CHEISTIAN   MANNEE," 

was  printed  in  IS'ew  York  and  issued  in  pamphlet,  ^  It 
had  a  large  circulation  in  the  Province.  Its  writer's 
name  does  not  appear,  but  it  was  generally  accepted 
that  Mr.  Taylor  was  its  author.     It  was  so  much  to  the 


1.  See  Manuscript  Copy  of  "Petition  of  404  Inhabitants  of  Newark,  to 
the  King  in  Council."     In  the  Library  of  the  New  Jersey  Historical  Society. 

2.  See  New  Jersey  Archives,  VI.  266,  where  it  is  re-printed. 


A  Brief  Vindication  of  Purchasers.       95 

point  and  so  damaging  to  the  Proprietors  that  they 
noticed  it  in  the  New  York  Post  Boy. 

Its  arguments  and  trenchant  appeals  to  their  sense 
of  right  were  met,  in  their  review  of  it,  only  by  de- 
faming the  writer  and  holding  up  him  and  those  for 
whom  he  pleaded  for  abuse  and  contempt ;  thus  inten- 
sifying the  hostility  of  the  planters  towards  themselves, 
and  confirming  them  in  their  jpurposes  of  opposition 
to  what  they  considered  unjust  claims.  An  extract 
from  an  account  book  of  Samuel  Harrison,  which  was 
opened  as  early  as  1727,  ^  illustrates  the  activity  of  its 
owner  in  his  defence  of  the  Indian  titles  held  by  him 
and  by  his  associates  at  the  Mountain.  The  entries 
are  made  in  1744. 

An  a  count  of  what  each  one  hath  paid  in  order  to  the  estab- 
lishing their  Right  of  Land  in  Defraing  the  Charge  : 

Nathanel  Crane  in  cash 

Samuel  Harrison  in  cash  to  Capt.  Wheler,     . 

Nathanel  Camp, 

Samii  Baldwin, 

Samii  Harrison  paid  to  Mr.  tayler,      .         .         , 

John  Cundict  paid  to  Mr.  tayler 

Aug.  2  of  Garshom  Willams,      .... 

Oct.  7  I  received  of  Amos  Williams  on  acompt  of  the 

charge  of  the  purch  Right,  .         .         .         .      oo    07     o 

The  following  are  Mr.  Harrison's  charges  for  his 
services  and  disbursements  in  the  same  matter : 

Paid  to  Stephen  Morris  the  sum  of           ...  ^03 

Paid  to  Eliphelet  Johnson  the  sum  of           ...  03 

To  two  days  going  to  Hanover,          ....  00 

Thomas  Willams,            00 

Samii  Wheler,  17  and  six  pens, 00 

Oct.,  1744.  to  going  to  New  England  4  days,        .        .  i 


^01 

10 

0 

00 

07 

0 

GO 

o-] 

0 

00 

07 

0 

00 

03 

6 

00 

07 

0 

00 

07 

0 

4 

0 

4 

0 

10 

0 

03 

0 

17 

6 

04 

0 

I.   This  book  is  still  preserved,  and  in  the   possession  of  one  of  his  de- 
scendants. 


96  History  of  the  Oranges. 

December,  to  going  to  New  England  9  days,    .         .  2140 

to  going  to  horsneck  with  Mr.  Tayler,   .        .        .         .  o    07     o 

to  going  to  horsneck  with  Dan  Lamson,    .         .         .  o    05     o 

cash  paid  to  Mr.  taylor o    03     o 

August  ye  ist,  1744,  Cash  paid  to  Mr.  Tayler,           .  00       3     6 
paid  to  John  Cundict  fourteen  shillings,        .         .         .0140 

paid  to  John  Cundict, o    02     o 

paid  again  to  John  Tomkins, o     17  10 

to  going  to  New  York, 0100 

to  going  to  Paramus  two  days 00     12     o 

paid  Thomas  Williams, 00     17     5 

paid  to  John  Vincent, 00     1 5     8 

paid  to  Steven  Young,  York  money,           .         .         .  00      6     8 

paid  to  Robet  Young,  upon  Acquackuk  Right— cash,  00     17     4 

We  annex  a  reduced  fac  simile  copy  of  a  part  of 
page  199  of  the  account  bopk,  as  illustrating  Mr, 
Harrison's  methods.  Major  Johnson,  to  whom  two 
guineas  were  paid,  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the 
lawyers  who  were  employed  in  the  litigation. 


The  questions  at  issue  were  never  settled.  The  Bill 
in  Chancery  did  not  come  to  a  legal  termination. 
Suits  and  counter  suits,  ejectments,  legal  and  illegal, 
marked  the  whole  of  the  colonial  era.  Tlie  stamp  act 
soon  followed  and  not  many  years  afterwards  the  Rev- 
olution, brought  to  a  close,  forever,  the  numerous  con- 
troversies with  the  Proprietors,  tlie  Crown  and  the 
British  Parliament. 


CHAPTER  yi. 


*'THE   MOFlSTTAIlSr   SOCIETY. 


ITS  FIRST  YEARS. 


IT  is  uncertain  when  the  "Town  at  the  River"  began 
to  furnish  settlers  to  the  outlying  lands  which  were  a 
part  of  the  original  purchase  of  1666.  In  fifteen  years 
there  was  a  population  at  the  Mountain  which  required 
highways  for  its  use  and  an  increased  acreage  for  cul- 
tivation. The  town  at  this  time,  1681,  voted  surveyors 
to  be  chosen  to  lay  out  the  former,  and  provision  for 
the  latter  was  made  by  another  division  of  lands.  ^  In 
about  thirty-five  years  after  the  action  of  the  town,  the 
mountain  region  west  of  the  river,  from  two  miles  north 
of  Bloomfield  to  the  Elizabethtown  line,  was  occupied 
by  a  thriving  people.  Successful  in  their  worldly 
schemes,  they  did  not  forget  the  house  of  God — the 
meetiug-house  at  the  river.  The  Mountain  planters 
gave  it  their  Christian  sympathy  and  their  cordial  ma- 
terial aid ;  and  this,  too,  notAvithstanding  the  remote- 
^  ,    -  nessof  their  homes,   the 

JUh/B'/i^^^rt^^'^^m   imperfect  roads,   the   ex- 
^  '  posures  to    the   weather, 

and  the  inconvenient  modes  of  travel.  The  purpose, 
doubtless,  long  entertained,  to  form  a  religious  society 
more  "adapted  to  their  needs,  finally  took  shape.     The 


I.   See  Newark  Town  Records,  p.  86. 
7 


98  History  of  the  Oranges. 

year  1719  was  memorable  in  the  history  of  the  Church 
at  the  river  by  the  settlement  there  of  Rev.  Joseph 
Webb,  as  pastor,  by  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia. 

The  four  years  succeeding  the  death  of  Mr.  Bowers, 
pastor  of  the  Newark  Church,  were  distinguished  by 
differences  of  opinion  upon  Church  order.  The  people 
at  the  river  favored  Presbytery. 

"The  way  had  been  preparing  for  such  a  step  from  the  very 
first  introduction  of  the  Presbyterian  polity  in  this  region.  Scotch 
families,  and  probably,  with  decided  Scotch  predilections,  formed 
a  part  of  the  population  of  Newark  before  the  close  of  the  17th 
century,  and  were  intermingled  extensively  by  marriage  with  the 
families  of  the  first  settlers.  *  *  *  Francis  Makemie,  the  father 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  America,  had  friends  and  partizans 
in  Newark,  when  he  first  visited  this  part  of  the  country  in  1708."! 

The  planters  of  the  townshii^,  being  in  a  great  meas- 
ure removed  from  the  influences,  of  which  Dr.  Stearns 
writes,  were  decided,  and,  as  it  will  appear,  were  a  unit 
in  their  adherence  to  the  Congregational  order. 

The  death  of  Rev.  Mr.  Bowers,  which  occurred  about 
the  time  of  the  formation  of  the  first  Synod,  (of  Phil- 
adelphia) August,  1716,  became  the  occasion  of  bring- 
ing to  the  surface  the  questions  of  difference  in  the 
parish.     Its  first  measure,  in  the  way  of  provision  for 


^ 


another  pastor,  was  an  invitation  to  Rev.  Jedidiah 
Buckingham  to  occupy  the  pulpit,  as  a  candidate  for 
settlement.  He  ministered  to  the  church  during  the 
last  months  of  1716  and  the  early  months  of  1717. 
Mr.  McWhorter,  in  his  century  sermon,  says  of  him : 
"Warm  disputes  arose  in  the  congregation  concerning 


I.  See  Dr.  Steams'  First  Church  in  Newark,  N.  J.,  p.  127. 


''''  The  Mountain  Society."  99 

him  ;  some  being  his  zealous  friends  and  others  his  more 
zealous  opponents."  Dr.  Steams,  in  trying  to  fix  the 
date  when  the  Newark  Church  united  with  Presbytery, 
remarks:  "The  incipient  steps  towards  it  may  have 
been  taken  during  the  contentions  about  Mr.  Bucking- 
ham." It  would  thus  appear  that  during  the  few 
months  of  the  ministration  of  the  latter,  the  two  op- 
posing elements  were  crystalizing,  each  into  its  chosen 
form  of  ecclesiastical  polity.  The  withdraAval  of  ]\Ir. 
Buckingham  from  the  Newark  pulpit  was  nearly  co- 
incident with  the  fact  that  "in  1718  many  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  Mountain  broke  off  and  formed  a  new 
society. ' '  ^  Mr.  Mc Whorter  says  of  Mr.  Webb  that  ' '  he 
was  settled  here  with  great  unanimity  ;  and  for  some 
years  there  was  much  tranquility  and  comfort  in  the 
town."  Unanimity  in  settling  Mr.  Webb  by  Presby- 
tery in  1719,  seems  to  verify  the  statement  of  Stearns, 
that  the  people  of  the  townshi]p  had  withdrawn  before 
that  time  to  form  a  society  at  the  Mountain. 
We  sum  up  the  events  now  recorded  : 

1.  The  four  years  succeeding  the  death  of  Mr.  Bow- 
ers, the  fifth  pastor  of  the  Newark  Church,  were  years 
of  contest  upon  the  question  of  Church  order. 

2.  The  people  of  Newark  were  substantially  a  unit 
in  favor  of  Presbytery,  and  those  of  the  Mountain 
were  united  in  favor  of  the  old  Congregational  basis. 

3.  Mr.  Buckingham  was  engaged  as  supply  for  a 
time,  as  a  candidate  for  settlement  in  the  old  church. 
He  served  it  during  the  last  of  1716,  and  the  early 
months  of  1717,  having  "zealous  friends  and  more 
zealous  opponents." 

I.  "  That  part  of  the  town,  (the  Mountain)  having  become  somewhat  nu- 
merous, formed  a  distinct  religious  organization,  which  was  known  at  first, 
and  for  many  years,  as  the  '  Mountain  Society,'  and  afterwards  as  the  Second 
Church  in  Newark.  It  is  now  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Orange." 
Dr.  Stearns  History  of  the  First  Church,  Neivark,  p,  121. 


loo  History  of  the  Oranges. 

4.  Mr.  Buckingham  withdrew  from  the  church  dur- 
ing the  year  1717,  and  in  1718  a  new  society  was  organ- 
ized at  the  Mountain. 

6.  Mr.  Webb,  in  December,  1718,  was  selected  and 
engaged  for  three-quarters  of  a  year  on  trial,  and  in 
October,  1719,  was  chosen  pastor  with  great  unanimity. 

Our  conclusions  are,  that  Dr.  Stearns'  History  of  the 
Newark  Churcli  is  correct,  when  he  says  that  a  new 
society  was  formed  at  the  Mountain  in  1718,  and  that 
the  "unanimity"  with  which  Mr.  McWhorter,  in  his 
Century  Sermon,  says  Mr.  Webb  was  settled,  grew  out 
of  the  previous  withdrawal  of  the  dissentients. 

During  this  period,  1716  to  1719,  Rev.  John  Prud- 
den,  who  was  settled  as  the  third  pastor  of  tlie  Newark 
Church  in  1692,  and  who  served  the  parish  for  seven 
years,  was  a  resident  of  Newark,  quondam  minister,  as 

he  is  styled  in  a  deed  given 
to  him.  His  pastorate  was 
not  a  smooth  one,  because  of  a  diversity  of  ecclesias- 
tical views  between  his  people  and  himself.  He  con- 
tinued to  live  in  Newark  till  his  death  in  1725,  aged  80. 
He  was  much  esteemed  by  the  people,  and  preached 
for  and  served  them  as  occasion  might  call.  He  had 
two  grand-daughters  living  at  the  Mountain,  children 
of  James  Nutman.  Their  names  were  Abigail,  who 
married  Matthew  Williams,  and  Mary,  who  married 
his  brother  Amos.  Their  grand-father  was  a  frequent 
visitor  at  their  homes  and  spent  much  of  his  time  at  the 
Mountain.  He  was  possessed  of  a  considerable  estate, 
and  lived  at  his  ease  and  on  the  most  cordial  terms  with 
his  former  parishioners.  A  tradition,  quite  reliable, 
in  the  family  of  Williams,  ^  to  which  Mr.  Prudden  was 
allied,  that  he  was  the  first  minister  of  the  Mountain 


<^/^      -ptSfdtr^ 


I.  Related  by  Hon.  Jesse  Williams,  who  was  great-grand-son  of  Abigail 
Nutman. 


''The  Mountain  Society."  loi 

Society,  may  have  arisen  from  his  frequent  services 
*  there,  and  from  the  interest  he  may  have  taken  in  the 
formation  of  a  new  religions  society.  Though  he  was 
the  son  of  Rev.  Peter  Prudden,  a  rigid  Puritan  Pres- 
byterian, and,  before  he  was  settled  at  Newark,  in 
1692,  was  pastor  of  a  Presbyterian  Church  on  Long 
Island,  so  strongly  Congregational  was  he  in  his 
views  that  he  endeavored  to  convert  the  people  of  that 
church  to  his  system  of  church  order.  Having,  by  his 
efforts  to  this  end,  obtained  a  following  among  the 
people,  he  addressed  a  petition  to  Gov.  Dongan  in 
1688,  requesting  that  if  a  considerable  number  of  "the 
Congregational  profession  and  persuasion  should  be 
desirous  that  he  would  continue  to  be  their  minister 
and  maintain  him  at  their  own  cost  &  charge  by  a 
voluntary  contribution,  your  Excellency  and  the  Hon- 
ored Council  would  pleas  to  give  approbation."  ^ 

The  zeal  of  Mr.  Prudden  for  the  Congregational 
I)olity  and  the  great  res^Dect  in  which  his  counsels  were 
held,  could  not  fail,  as  we  can  readily  understand,  to 
lead  his  followers  to  the  adoption  of  measures  for  the 
formation  of  another  religious  society.  Such  action 
had  been  taken. 

Mr.  Buckingham  came  to  the  Mountain  and  minis- 
tered to  the  wants  of  the  infant  society  in  1718.  He 
had  proved  himself  acceptable  to  them  as  a  preacher, 
and  was  in  sympathy  with  them  in  their  views  of 
church  order.  He  remained  with  the  society  proba- 
bly till  his  death,  certainly  till  five  months  before 
his  death.  A  monumental  inscription  in  a  graveyard 
in  Norwalk,  Conn.,  thus  speaks:  "Here  lyetli  the 
body  of  Mr.  Jedidiah  Buckingham  late  preacher  of 
the  Gospel  at  the  west  part  of  Newark  in  East  Jersey 
who  departed  this  life  March  28, 1720,  ?etatis  (suae)  24." 

r.   Doc.  Hist,  of  New  York,  III.,  p.  122. 


I02  History  of  the  Oranges. 

Mr.  Buckingham  was  born  at  Saybrook,  Ct.,  Octo- 
ber 2,  1696,  the  third  son  of  Thomas  Buckingham,  Jr., 
of  Saybrook.  He  was  graduated  from  Yale  College, 
1714 ;  studied  theology,  and  in  1716  began  to  preach, 
as  we  have  before  stated,  in  Newark  as  a  candidate. 
Before  1718  he  withdrew  from  the  puli)it  there.  He 
continued  to  reside  in  Newark,  where  his  only  son  was 
born  October  14,  1719.  Five  months  after  the  birth 
of  his  son,  while  visiting  at  the  house  of  his  uncle. 
Rev.  Stephen  Buckingham,  ^  the  minister  of  the  town 
of  Norwalk,  Conn.,  he  rested  from  his  earthly  labors. ' 
The  Mountain  Society  having  taken  organic  form  in 
1718,  its  subsequent  acts  were  in  logical  sequence.  On 
January  13,  1719,  a  purchase  of  twenty  acres  of  land 
was  made  for  a  glebe.  The  grant  was  made  to  Samuel 
Freeman,  Samuel  Pierson,  Matthew  Williams  and  Sam- 
uel Wheeler,  and  the  Society  at  the  Mountain  associated 
with  them.  They  received  the  trust  for  a  society  al- 
ready formed.     In  the  same  year,  tradition  says,   a 


1.  Rev.  Stephen  Buckingham  and  Thomas  B.  Jr.,  were  sons  of  Rev. 
Thomas  Buckingham,  who  was  minister  of  Saybrook,  and  died  there  April 
I,  1709.  He  was  a  trustee  of  the  College,  and  under  his  inspection  and 
direction  it  seemed  to  be  placed.  He  was  a  delegate  from  the  New  London 
Council,  and  one  of  the  moderators  of  the  Convention  which  adopted  the 
Saybrook  Platform  in  1708.  His  son,  Thomas,  was  born  September  29, 
1670,  and  married,  December  16,  1691,  Margaret  Griswold,  by  whom  he 
had  Jedidiah  and  others.  His  son,  Stephen,  was  born  September  4,  1675, 
and  died  at  Norwalk,  Ct.,  February  3,  1746,  aged  70.  He  married  Sarah, 
daughter  of  Rev.  Samuel  Hooker,  son  of  Rev.  Thomas  H.  and  Mary,  eldest 
daughter  of  Capt.  Thomas  Willett,  the  first  English  mayor  of  New  York, 
After  the  death  of  Samuel  Hooker,  November  16,  1697,  his  widow,  Mary 
(Willett)  Hooker,  married,  August  10,  1703,  Rev.  Stephen  Buckingham,  of 
Saybrook,  when  67  years  of  age,  and  upon  his  death,  in  1709,  she  removed 
to  Norwalk,  and  made  her  home  with  Rev.  Mr.  Buckingham,  the  son  of  her 
second  husband,  and  the  husband  of  her  daughter  by  her  first  marriage. 
She  resided  with  them  three  years,  and  until  her  death.  Her  grave  is  in 
Norwalk.  "  Here  lies  the  body  of  Mrs.  Mary  Buckingham,  aged  77  years. 
Died  June  24,  1712."  See  Savage's  Genealogical  Dictionary ;  also  New 
York  Genealogical  and  Biographical  Record.  April,  1887,  p.  73. 

2.  See  Dexter's  Biographies  and  Annals  of  Yale  College,  p.  120. 


''''  The  Mountain  Society."  103 

plot  of  ground  was  given  to  the  parisli,  as  a  burial 
place.  In  the  next  year,  when  the  success  of  the  new 
enterprise  was  established,  a  lot  was  •selected  for  a 
house  of  worship,  and  in  that  same  year,  1720,  it  was 
probably  erected.  Its  style  of  construction,  of  which 
we  shall  speak  hereafter,  was  such  that  it  could  be 
built  in  ninety  days  or  less.  It  was  ready  for  a  pas- 
tor's use  at  the  close  of  that  year,  and  was  then,  or 
very  soon  after,  occupied  by  the  first  installed  pastor 
of  the  church. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  whole  township  down  to 
1718,  when  Mr.  Buckingham  ceased  to  minister  to  the 
church  at  the  river,  constituted  one  parish.  The  time 
had  come  when  the  outlying  population  in  Caldwell, 
Montclair,  Bloomfield,  and  the  region  now  covered  by 
the  Oranges,  was  large  enough  to  sustain  a  church 
organization  in  a  location  sufficiently  central  for  their 
accommodation.  Under  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Bucking- 
ham, they  had  become  consolidated  as  a  religious 
body,  and  were  in  a  condition  to  settle  a  pastor.  It 
does  not  appear  from  the  sketch  we  have  given  of  Mr. 
Buckingham,  that  he  had  withdrawn  from  his  ministry 
at  the  Mountain.  He  ceased  his  life-work  while  visit- 
ing  a  relative  at  a  town  which  was  of  easy  access  and  to 
which  he  might  readily  go  for  recreation.  Mr,  Hoyt,  in 
his  History  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Orange, 
N.  J.,  p.  58,  says  :  "There  is  a  tradition  in  the  parish 
that  before  the  settlement  of  Mr.  Taylor,  the  society 
had  a  minister  who  was  drowned,  with  his  son,  at  Say- 
brook,  on  a  visit  to  his  friends."  He  then  states,  by 
way  of  explanation,  that  the  tradition  relates  to  the 
sudden  death,  by  drowning,  at  Saybrook,  of  Mr.  Webb 
of  the  Church  at  Newark  in  1741,  which  is  a  well  au- 
thenticated fact.  The  sudden  death  of  Mr.  Bucking- 
ham, while  on  a  visit  to  his  father  at  Saybrook,  and  his 


I04  History  of  the  Oranges. 

dying  at  Norwalk,  where  he  probably  stopped  on  his 
way,  confirms  the  tradition  that  a  minister  served  the 
Society  before  Mr.  Taylor,  and  that  he  died  unex- 
pectedly while  on  a  visit  to  his  friends.  The  fatal 
accident  to  Mr.  Webb  at  the  same  place  may  have 
confounded  the  tradition  with  the  sudden  death  of 
their  first  minister,  which  could  not  have  failed  to 
make  a  lasting  impression,  with  the  equally  startling- 
death  of  Mr.  Webb.  We  do  not  know  whether  his 
early  death  thwarted  the  expectations  of  the  people 
to  have  him  as  their  pastor.  We  do  know  that  very 
soon  after  his  death  the  pulpit  was  filled  by  the  Kev. 
Daniel  Taylor,  as  the  settled  incumbent. 


EEV.    DANIEL   TAYLOR. 

According  to  the  records,  the  Rev.  Daniel  Taylor 
was  the  first  pastor  of  the  Society.  He  was  a  native 
of  Saybrook,  Ct.  The  date  of  his  birth  does  not  ap- 
pear in  the  town  records.  He  was  the  son  of  Daniel 
/  ^  X  Taylor,  Justice,  and  of  the 
(^Cty^ceC  ^CLy^i^r^  Quorum,  of  that  town.  It 
^  s^  is  suj)posed  that  his  moth- 

er was  a  daughter  of  Humphrey  Davie,  of  Boston, 
later  of  Hartford,  who  was  a  gentleman  of  high  re- 
spectability, and  possessed  of  a  large  estate.  He  was 
a  personal  friend  of  Gov.  Winthrop,  who  named  him, 
with  two  others,  as  a  fit  counsellor  to  settle  any  diffi- 
culties in  the  winding  up  of  his  estate. 

Mr.  Taylor  received  his  degree  of  A.B.  from  Yale 
College,  in  1707,  when  he  was  sixteen  years  of  age. 
He  was  fitted  for  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel  six  years 
thereafter.     Those  years  of  study  were  also  spent  in 


''The  Mountain  Society/'  105 

teaching  in  Ms  native  town.     Its  records  of  April  23, 
1713,  note  his  engagement  as  school-master,  ^ 

He  migrated  in  that  year  to  Smithtown,  L.  I.,  where 
he  had  been  invited  to  preach  the  Gospel,  by  the  four 
sons  who  inherited  the  large  property  of  Richard 
Smith,  of  which  he  was  the  grantee  in  1677. 

They  gave  him  fifty  acres  of  land  on  the  Nissaquag 
River,  in  consideration  of  his  services  in  the  work  of 
the  ministry  for  four  years,  "which  services,"  the  town 
records  say:  "we  acknowledge  to  have  been  faith- 
ful performed."  While  there  he  married  Jemima,  a 
grand-daughter  of  Richard  Smith,  the  patentee.  Her 
monumental  inscription,  now  in  the  Smith  burial  place, 
gives  the  date  of  her  death  as  April  16,  I7I6.  There 
is  no  attainable  evidence  that  he  remained  in  Smith- 
town  after  his  engagement  with  the  Proprietors  there 
was  fulfilled.  His  native  town  was  less  than  a  day's 
sail  across  the  Long  Island  Sound,  to  which  it  is  not 
improbable  he  resorted  in  1717.  He  was  now  twenty- 
six  years  of  age.  It  is  worthy  of  our  notice  here  that 
Saybrook  was  the  birth-place  of  Mr.  Buckingham. 
He  and  Mr.  Taylor  were  boys  together,  the  latter 
being  five  years  the  elder.  They  w^ere  educated  in  the 
same  seminary  of  learning ;  and,  iDursuing  the  same 
calling  in  life,  their  relations  to  each  other  were  more 
or  less  intimate.  It  is  reasonable  to  infer  that  they 
were  informed  of  each  other's  current  history,  and 
that  they  were  in  cordial  sympathy  in  their  ecclesiasti- 
cal opinions,  being  brought  up  in  a  town  where  high 
Congregationalism  ruled,  and  was  equally  opposed 
to  Presbytery  and  Prelacy.  Whether  the  death  of 
Mr.  Buckingham  became  the  occasion  of  bringing  Mr. 
Taylor  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Society,  we  do  not 
know.     That  he  was  settled  at  the  Mountain  "in  1721, 

I.  See  Baxter's  Biographies  and  Annals  of  Yale  College,  p.  67. 


io6  History  of  the  Oranges. 

er  earlier,"  aj^pears  from  tlie  sketch  of  liis  life  in 
Dexter' s  Biographies  and  Annals  of  Yale.  ^ 

The  meeting-house  in  which  Mr.  Taylor  was  in- 
stalled i)astor,  as  we  suppose,  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
year  1720,  would  not  be  esteemed  very  inviting  or  at- 
tractive in  this  day  to  either  pastor  or  people.  Its 
location  was  in  the  centre  of  the  highway  to  the  moun- 
tain, its  west  end  being  about  ten  feet  east  of  what  is 
now  Day  Street,  opposite  Music  Hall ;  the  entrance 
door  on  the  south  side.  The  road  was  open  on  both 
its  north  and  south  sides.  Kev.  James  Hoyt,  in  his 
History,  says  that  it  was  a  frame  structure,  and  a  heavy 
beam  of  white  oak  taken  from  it  forms  to  this  day  a 
part  of  a  barn  on  the  Valley  Road.  Its  architecture 
and  appointments  have  not  come  down  to  us.  We 
may  form  a  correct  idea  of  what  they  were,  when 
we  remember  that  the  second  meeting-house  in  New- 
ark, where  the  people  of  the  Mountain  had  formerly 
worshiped,  was  built  twelve  years  before,  and  at  a  time 
when  the  popular  taste  had  undergone  no  process  of 
refinement.  It  was,  doubtless,  a  plain  wooden  struc- 
ture, roofed  with  cedar  shingles,  sided  with  boards  from 
the  saw-mill,  floored  ' '  with  good  chestnut  or  oak  two 
and  a-half  inch  plank,  edged  and  laid  on  good  sleep- 


i.  The  author  has  a  copy,  made  by  himself,  of  an  old  manuscript,  with- 
out date,  or  name  of  its  writer.  It  was  evidently  penned  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  last  century.  It  was  found  among  the  MSS.  of  Dr.  Hiliyer,  a  few 
years  ago.  Its  title  is  :  ''Churches  in  Newark  and  {Mountain  Society,) 
to  17SJ."  It  contains  a  succinct  history  of  the  churches  in  Newark  from 
1666.  In  noticing  the  Mountain  Society,  it  says  that  it  was  formed  in  or  about 
the  year  1718,  and  that  its  formation  was  according  to  the  tenets  of  inde- 
pendency, or  Congregationalism,  "  which  the  Presbyterian  Minister  of  New- 
ark and  others  joining  him,  looked  upon  so  different  from  their  principles  and 
form  of  church  government  that  they  absolutely  refused  to  ordain  a  minister 
for  them,  and  they  were  obliged  to  go  to  N.  England  for  the  purpose,  and 
not  having  a  sufficient  number,  they  were  at  last  under  the  necessity  of 
making  use  of  a  layman." 


"The  Mountain  Society."  107 

ers" — "lathed  and  filled  in  with  thin  stone  and  mortar 
below  the  girts."  These  were  the  provisions  ordered 
by  the  town  for  the  Newark  meeting-house  in  1708. 
There  is  no  mention  made  of  paint  or  the  erection  of  a 
chimney.  Both  these  were  supei-fluities  in  those  days. 
The  seats  were  of  the  mountain  timber,  whether  sawed, 
or  heA\Ti  with  the  broad-axe,  we  do  not  know.  "A 
hovel  built  to  shelter  horses"  was  probably  conven- 
iently near,  as  it  was  at  the  house  by  the  river.  When 
the  house  was  completed  and  ready  for  use,  it  was  the 
custom  to  appoint  a  committee  of  three  to  assign  seats 
where  persons  shall  sit  according  to  ' '  office,  age,  estate, 
infirmity,  descent  or  parentage — all  which  are  left  to 
the  discretion  of  the  committee  to  act  according  to  the 
best  of  their  judgment."  1  That  the  rights  and  dig- 
nity of  the  three  committee  men  should  not  suffer, 
two  men  were,  at  town  meeting,  ' '  chosen  to  seat  the 
three  men  that  were  chosen  to  seat  the  meeting- 
house." ^  This  action  was  taken  in  Newark  four  years 
before  the  house  at  the  Mountain  was  made  ready  for 
the  rendering  of  the  same  important  service.  By  the 
method  above  detailed,  families  were  divided.  The 
sexes  were  seated  apart  on  their  respective  sides  of  the 
house.  Boys  had  a  place  separate  from  both,  and  a 
tithingman  appointed  to  keep  them  in  order.  Two 
services  were  held  on  the  Sabbath  day,  always  by  day- 
light. They  consisted  of  extemporaneous  prayers, 
singing  of  psalms  in  a  metrical  version,  without  instru- 
mental accompaniment.  A  sermon  was  delivered,  of 
which  one  hour  was  the  approved  length  by  an  hour- 
glass on  the  pulpit.  The  reading  of  Scripture  with- 
out exposition  was  not  approved,  nor  were  notes  and 
reading  of  sermons  popular.  ^ 

1.  See  Newark  Town  Records,  p.  94. 

2.  Ibid.  p.  127. 

3.  Palfrey's  History  of  New  England. 


io8  History  of  the  Oranges. 

The  Bay  Psalm  Book,  which  was  in  general  use  in 
lS"ew  England,  and  in  the  New  Haven  Colony  from 
1640,  when  the  churches  of  Branford  and  Milford  mi- 
grated to  Newark,  probably,  continued  in  use  in  the 
service  of  song  at  Newark  and  in  the  Mountain  So- 
ciety. ^  It  was  the  first  book  printed  in  America,  and 
was  in  such  demand  in  the  churches  that  it  passed 
through  seventy  editions.  ^ 

The  service  of  song  in  the  early  churches  would  seem 
to  us  of  the  present  day  a  very  imperfect  service  and 
the  music  rudely  rendered.  Three  or  four  tunes  were 
about  all  the  congregations  were  able  to  sing  through- 
out New  England  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth 


1.  Of  this  we  have  no  certain  knowledge.  No  old  Psalm  book  has  been 
found  in  Newark,  or  at  the  Mountain,  which  would  give  hght  on  the  subject. 
A  letter  from  Dr.  Hatfield  to  this  writer  in  1882,  says  the  version  of  Stern- 
hold  and  Hopkins  was  uniformly  printed  at  the  end  of  all  the  Bibles  in  use 
from  the  seventeeth  century,  into  the  first  years  of  the  eighteenth.  He  was 
"  inclined  to  think  that  our  forefathers  in  New  Jersey  praised  God  after  that 
fashion." 

2.  The  book  was  first  printed  &t  Cambridge  by  Stephen  Daye.  He  began 
business  in  America  in  the  first  month,  1639.  The  following  passage  con- 
cerning him  is  from  an  old  manuscript  copy  of  the  records  :  "  Att  a  Gen- 
eral Court  held  at  Boston  on  the  eighth  day  of  the  eighth  month  (October), 
1641,  Steeven  Daye  being  the  first  that  sett  upon  printing,  is  granted  thre 
hundred  acres  of  land  where  it  may  be  convenient  without  prejudice  to  any 
town."  Though  so  numerous  in  former  days,  copies  of  this  Psalm  Book  are 
now  extremely  rare.  There  is  one  in  the  British  Museum,  one  in  the  Lenox 
Library,  and  another  was  bought  a  few  years  since,  at  the  Bentley  library 
sale  in  New  York,  byW.  H.  Vanderbilt,  for  $1,200.  He  stored  it  in  New 
York  with  many  other  of  his  valuables,  all  of  which  were  consumed  by  fire 
the  year  after  his  purchase. 

Two  stanzas  of  the  19th  Psalm,  rendered  by  Addison  in  his  beautiful  lyric, 
"  The  Spacious  Firmament  on  High,"  were  sung  : 

"  The  heavens  do  declare 
The  majesty  of  God  ; 
Also  the  firmament  shows  forth 
His  handiwork  abroad. 

Day  speaks  to  day,  knowledge 

Night  hath  to  night  declared  ; 
There  neither  speech  nor  language  is, 

Where  their  voice  is  not  heard." 


''The  Mountain  Society."  109 

and  in  the  early  years  of  the  eighteenth  century.  They 
had  no  note  books.  No  mention  of  choirs  is  made 
before  1720.  All  the  singing  was  congregational  and 
led  by  a  jirecentor,  who,  in  most  cases,  lined  the  psalm 
before  singing.  ^ 

Rev.  Mr.  Taylor  came  to  East  Jersey  with  some 
Avorldly  means.  His  name  very  soon  appears  in  deeds 
for  lands  which  he  had  purchased.  One  of  his  first 
purchases  was  on  the  south-east  corner  of  Main  Street 
and  Oakwood  Avenue,  in  Orange,  where  he  built  a 
house  which  he  occupied  until  his  death.  He  became 
early  identified  with  his  parish  as  a  man  of  affairs. 
The  official  relations  of  his  father  j)robably  led  him, 
after  completing  his  college  course,  to  acquaint  him- 
self with  the  more  common  j^rinciples  and  forms  of 
law.  Testimony  to  this  is  afforded  by  the  numerous 
legal  manuscripts  in  his  own  hand,  as  wills,  deeds  and 
other  documents,  many  of  which  are  now  in  the  libra- 
ry of  the  New  Jersey  Historical  Society.  One  quit- 
claim deed  drawn  and  signed  by  him  as  witness,  May 
1,  1722,  shows  that  at  that  date  he  had  acquired  the 
confidence  of  the  people,  and  had  become  identified 
with  their  interests.  ^ 

The  records  which  have  come  down  to  us  concerning 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Taylor  throw  very  little  light  upon  liis 
pastoral  work.  His  connection  with  the  civil  affairs 
of  the  parish  in  an  active  form  does  not  appear  till 


1.  The  first  account  of  the  use  of  an  organ  was  of  one  imported  for  King's 
Chapel  in  Boston,  1713.  It  lay  seven  months  in  the  porch  before  it  was  set 
up,  because  of  the  cfamor  of  the  people.  In  1743,  one  was  placed  in  St, 
Peter's  Church,  Salem,  Mass.     (His.  Mag.,  1868.) 

2.  The  document  was  a  quit-claim  of  John  Ward  to  Joseph  Harrison.  It 
is  now  in  the  possession  of  one  of  the  descendants  of  the  latter.  It  was 
common  at  that  day  for  the  clergy  to  give  some  attention  to  the  study  of  the 
law  and  the  art  of  pleading,  that  they  might  meet  the  exigencies  of  the 
people  whom  they  were  called  to  serve  in  the  Gospel. 


no  History  of  the  Oranges. 

near  the  close  of  a  long  pastorate  of  twenty-eight  years. 
A  manuscript  sermon  now  lies  before  this  writer  written 
by  him  and  delivered  January  22,  1743-4.  He  entitles 
it:  DeVigilantia ;  text,  Matthew xxvi :  41.  It  shows 
a  careful  study  and  a  clear  appreciation  of  the  Scrip- 
ture truth.  His  logical  and  practical  method  of  en- 
forcing it  manifests  more  than  ordinary  ability.  Few 
texts  of  Scripture  are  better  calculated  than  the  one 
he  employed  to  make  manifest  the  inner  life  of  the 
preacher.  That  he  was  a  devout  man  himself,  and 
that  he  set  forth  with  much  power  the  value  and  im- 
portance of  a  life  of  godliness,  cannot  be  doubted. 
The  most  of  the  years  of  his  pastorate  were  years  of 
tranquility.  His  parish  was  not  harassed  by  civil  cares. 
His  work,  as  a  pastor,  was  contemporaneous  with  the 
successful  labors  of  Whitfield,  Tennent,  Cross  and 
others  in  Newark,  Elizabethtown  and  other  neighbor- 
ing places,  and,  doubtless,  received  inspiration  and 
success  from  their  influences.  Discourses  like  the  one 
which  has  come  down  to  us,  preached  to  a  people  for  a 
series  of  years,  could  not  fail  to  leave  upon  them  an 
enduring  impression  for  their  spiritual  good.  Evi- 
dently, the  discourse  given  below  is  not  as  fully  writ- 
ten out  as  it  was  delivered. 

In  1747,  December  21,  Mr.  Taylor  "being  aged  and 
infirm  of  body,  but  of  sound  and  perfect  mind  and 
memory,"  made  his  last  will  and  testament.  In  eight- 
een days  thereafter,  January  8,  1747-8,  he  was  called 
to  the  heavenly  rest ;  suddenly,  as  we  infer  from  the 
record  on  his  gravestone.  His  mortal  remains  lie  in 
the  old  parish  burial  i)lace.  The  following  memorial, 
at  this  writing  one  hundred  and  forty  years  old,  is  in 


The  Vertu€^  of  ouf  Paftor 
And  Cop5^  afeef  Fil^  li'ke  ae' 
Hg  did  his-  Lord  and  hnafeer 
lo  US'  mofb  aufull  Visas'  iUe  ^Stfoie 
Py  ^f'hlch  he  wa^^  Remove 'c 
Uneo  ehe  faO  FKuitrlon  of 
The  God.  he  /S'erved   and   lovey 


Of  efiellev^  m!^  Daniel  Tayfer 
Who  ^oyas■  fnin'r  teP or  eh)^' rarnl h 

Jn--Ac  ^7*^'  year  of  fir^-  A^e 


TOMB    OF    REV.   DANIEL    TAYLER  ;     1747-8. 


"The  Mountain  Society."  iii 

good  preservation  on  a  horizontal  slab  of  freestone, 
raised  on  piers  above  his  grave  : 

"  Survivers  lets  all  Imitate 
The  vertues  of  our  Pastor, 
And  Copy  after  him  like  as 
He  did  his  Lord  and  master. 
To  us  most  aufull  was  the  Stroke 
By  which  he  was  Remove'd 
Unto  the  full  fruition  of 
The  God  he  Served  and  love'd." 

"  Here  Lyes  the  pious  Remains 
of  the  Revd  Mr   Daniel  Tayler 
Who  was  minister  of  this  parrish— 
Years,  Dec^  Janry  8th  a.D.  1747-8 
In  the  57th  year  of  his  Age." 

Mr.  Hoyt,  in  his  history,  gives  a  short  notice  of  the 
posterity  of  Mr.  Taylor,  substantially  as  follows  :  He 
had  children,  Daniel  and  Mary,  sup]3osed  to  have  been 
the  issue  of  a  second  marriage  union.  Daniel  lived  on 
a  farm  beyond  the  Mountain.  He  died  October  17, 
1794,  aged  74.  His  grave  is  near  that  of  his  father. 
Mary  became  the  wife  of  Deacon  Amos  Baldwin.  She 
died  September  30,  1795,  aged  74.  Daniel  had  a  son, 
Oliver,  who  died,  aged  31,  August  11, 1785 ;  also  a  son, 
Daniel,  who  had  children,  one  of  whom,  Charlotte, 
married  John  Morris  Lindsley.  She  Avas  born  1788, 
and  died  in  1859.  The  descendants  of  the  old  pastor 
are  found  among  the  families  of  Lindsley,  Baldwin 
and  Crane.  None  of  the  Taylor  name,  now  resident 
in  this  region,  have  been  traced  to  him. 

"  DeVigilantia  : "    a  Sermon   by   Rev.   Daniel 
Taylor;  "p:  philad:  Jan.  22,174|;  pii.174|." 

Text  :  Mat.  26  :  44. 
"  In  discoursing  upon  this  text  I  would — 

1  :  open  the  nature  &  kinds  of  watchfullness. 

2  :  the  nature  kinds  &  manner  of  prayer. 

3  :  Shew  the  nature  &  kinds  of  temptation  &  how  persons  may 
be  Sayd  to  enter  into,  or  be  led  into  temptation  by  God,  & 

4  :  Shew  the  necessity  of  watchfullness  &  prayer  to  prevent  either 


112  History  of  the  Oranges. 

our  entring  into  temptation  or  our  being  overcome  by  it ;  &  So 
proceed  to  Some  improvemt :  & 

"  I :  I  am  to  open  the  nature  &  kinds  of  watchfullness.  Now 
watchfullness  is  nothing  else  but  a  cautious  attention  by  wc  any 
thing  is  diligently  taken  care  of  &  it  is  occupyd— i  :  about  our 
Selves  &  the  temper  of  our  hearts  when  we  attempt  the  perform- 
ance of  Duty  ;  &  2  :  about  the  Duty  wc  we  undertake  ;  &  3  :  about 
future  things  either  good  or  evil  wc  respect  our  Duty. 

"  hence  it  appears  that  watchfullness  is  three  fold  ;  i  :  over  our 
own  hearts  by  wc  we  as  it  were  Set  a  watch  upon  them  observing 
carefully  what  comes  into  you  by  the  windows  of  senses  examin- 
ing whence  they  come  what  they  are  &  whither  they  tend — if  good 
giving  them  entertainment  if  evil  excluding  them.— in  like  maner 
all  that  comes  from  our  heart  into  our  thots  speech  &  practise 
Should  be  carefully  examined. — we  are  commanded  to  watch  the 
heart  diligently,  Seeing  that  from  it  are  the  ishues  of  death  &  life. 

"  2  :  another  kind  of  watchfullness  respects  the  Duty  that  we  are 
to  perform  either  to  God  or  man.  &  here  are  Several  things  to  be 
watched  respecting  our  Duty,  vizt:  i  :  the  Season  of  it. — every 
thing  is  beautifull  in  its  Season  Says  Solomon. — a  word  Spoken  in 
Season  is  like  aples  of  gold  in  pictures  of  Silver. — carefully  to  ob- 
serve the  Seasons  of  doing  &  receiving  good  is  our  great  Duty  & 
the  contrary  is  our  great  misery. — 2  Cor.  6  :  i,  2. — Eccles.  8  :  5,  6, — 
a  wise  man's  heart  discerneth  both  tyme  &  judgment — because 
to  every  purpose  there  is  tyme  &  judgment. — therefore  the 
misery  of  man  is  great  upon  him. — 2  :  ye  matter  of  Duty. — 3 : 
ye  maner  that  it  be  done  spirtually. — 4:  the  preparation  of  Duty 
wc  consists  either  in  removing  hindrances,  or  in  stirring  up  our 
Selves  by  prayer  meditations  to  lay  hold  on  God,  &  the  con- 
sequences of  Duty. — here  we  should  watch  against  two  things 
whereby  Duty  is  corrupted  and  its  design  mared,  viz'^  Spiritual 
pride  &  inconsitancy. — but  the 

"  3  :  Kind  of  watchfullness  respects  future  things  good  or  evil,  the 
first  to  be  embraced  the  latter  to  be  Declined. — here  observe  that 
as  we  should  be  watchfull  against  Seasons  of  Danger. — now  there 
is  a  two  fold  danger  to  be  guarded  against,  viz :  corruption  in 
Doctrine  and  practise  both  very  prejudicial  to  our  Soul's  interest 


''The  Mountain  Society."  113 

and  the  former  introductory  to  the  latter. — there  are  particular 
Seasons  of  temptation  suited  to  both,  wc  it  is  our  wisdom  our 
duty  and  our  interest  to  labour  to  discern  and  watch  against. 
Sometimes  we  are  tempted  to  evils  in  practise,  and  sometimes  to 
errors  in  principle,  and  it  seem  to  be  as  difficult  if  not  more  so  to 
withstand  the  Latter  as  the  former  because  more  plausible  pretexts 
may  be  offered  for  it. — hence  those  that  know  themselves  will  be 
jealous  of  themselves  in  both  cases. — Somtimes  the  righteous  God 
in  a  way  of  just  judgment  lets  loose  a  lying  Spirit,  a  Spirit  of  error 
to  deceive  the  world  and  many  are  bewitched  hereby. — then  it  is  a 
dangerous  season  and  hard  to  stand  when  many  fall  round  about 
us  of  whom  we  expected  better  things. — because  some  receive  not 
the  truth  in  the  Love  of — God  gives  them  up. — its  Easy  to  Stand 
til  we  are  tryd  and  then  o  then  its  difficult  when  those  we  had  a 
great  opinion  of  are  fallen. 

"But  I  proceed  to  speak  to  the  2:  proposed. — the  nature  of 
prayer  is  well  describd  by  the  venerable  Westminister  assembly, 
thus  vidt:  that  it  is  an  ofifering  up  of  our  desires  to  God  for  things 
agreeable  to  his  will  in  the  name  of  Christ  with  confession  of  our 
Sins  and  thankfull  acknowledgmt  of  his  mercys. 

"Here  observe  i:  the  parts  of  prayer  viz':  first  confess  and 
thanksgiving — 2  :  the  nature  of  prayer — 3  :  the  object  of  it  God, 
he  is  the  only  proper  object  of  religious  worship.  Mat.  4:10.  thou 
Shalt  worship  the  Lord,  he  only  knows  all  our  wants  &  can  only 
Suply  them. — 4:  the  maner  of  prayer,  more  generaly  it  must  be 
in  the  name  of  Christ,  by  an  intire  dependence  on  his  righteous- 
ness for  being  SinfuU  creatures  we  cannot  have  access  to  God 
wt  out  a  mediator,  but  particularly  our  prayers  ought  to  be  at- 
tended with  knowledge  faith  fervor  humility  importunity  and  fol- 
lowed wh  [  ]. — prayers  either  vocal  or  mental  secret  private 
publick. 

"  But  I  proceed  to  Speak  of  the  3  :  proposd  :  wc  was  to  discourse 
upon  temptations  &  i  :  the  word  temptation  Signifys  a  tryal  or 
probation  whereby  the  inward  Knowledge  of  a  thing  is  sought 
after  either  by  our  Selvs  or  others. — now  temptation  is  of  the  fol- 
lowing kinds.  I  :  of  God  whereby  he  tempts  or  trys  men  to  this 
end  that  the  good  or  evil  yt  is  latent  in  them  may  be  made  man- 


1 1 4  History  of  the    Oranges. 

ifest  to  themselvs  or  others  as  appears  in  the  temptations  of  Abra- 
ham Hezekia  &  others,  this  kind  of  temptation  is  holy  &  tends 
to  the  good  of  mankind.— 2 :  of  man  wc  is  three  fold  whereby  i: 
he  tempts  God  by  Seeking  an  experiment  of  some  divine  perfection 
after  an  unlawful  maner,  or  by  unlawfull  means  wc  chiefly  Springs 
from  unbelief.  2  :  his  neighbour  whereby  he  entises  him  to  error 
or  {"mpiety  by  fair  appearances  and  plausible  pretexts  as  Eve  did 
Adam.  &  3 :  whereby  a  man  tempts  himself  by  rashly  casting 
himself  into  the  way  of  temptation  to  know  the  Strength  of  his 
own  Shoulders  &  see  what  they  can  bear,  as  peter  did  when  he 
went  into  the  high  priest's  hall,     the  most  that  take  this  method 

come  of  with  Shame  as  he  did. 3  :  another  kind  of  temptation 

is  of  Satan  whereby  he  allows  men  to  error  &  Sin  by  Suiting  his 
bait  to  their  temper  &  disposition. 

"  Now  persons  may  be  Sayd  to  Enter  into  temptation  or  to  be 
led  thereinto  by  God.  i  :  when  by  the  course  of  his  wise  and  Sov- 
ereign providence  he  brings  before  us  tempting  objects  Suited  to 
draw  forth  our  corruptions,  thus  the  wedge  was  presented  before 
Achan. — 2  :  when  he  permits  Satan  &  men  influenced  by  him  to 
tempt  us  to  corruption  in  Doctrine  or  practice,  thus  an  evil 
Spirit  was  sent  to  Seduce  ahab^  hence  it  is  Sayd  that  heresys 
must  come,  the  false  apostls  were  Sent  or  permitted  to  go  & 
corrupt  the  galations  &  God  is  Sayd  to  give  persons  up  to  delusion, 
when  God  in  judgment  Sends  false  teachers  a  dreadful  bewitching 
power  goes  wt  them,  when  God  in  the  aforesaid  circumstances 
withdraws  the  influences  of  his  Spirit,  thus  it  is  sayd  that  God  left 
Hezekia  to  try  him.  2  Chron.  32:  31.  &  who  then  is  able  to 
stand,  &  sometimes  God  Suffers  his  own  children  to  be  tempted  & 
to  fall  as  a  just  judgment  for  their  own  confidence  in  themselvs 
or  others  too  high  opinion  of  them,  that  so  no  man  should  glory 
in  men  or  make  flesh  their  arm.  that  we  may  henceforth  know  no 
man  after  the  flesh.  &  likewise  the  righteous  God  suffers  these 
things  to  be  for  the  judicial  hardening  of  the  wicked. 

"  I  pass  on  to  the  4:  propsed  ;  wc  was  to  shew  the  necessity  of 
watchfullness. — &  i  :  we  should  watch  because  of  the  comand  of 
our  Saviour. — 2:  because  ot  our  weakness  &  the  Strength  of  our 
enemys.     we  are  ignorant  &  corrupt  creatures  inclined  by  nature 


<^^^^4^y^^.^ 


•K-^"*-^  ^o  . 


•  /-^ 


FROM    A    SERMON    BY    REV.  DANIEL    TAYLER  ;     1743-4- 


^'The  MoiAntain  Society."  115 

both  to  error  and  Sin  apt  to  be  easily  imposed  upon  wt  the  appear- 
ance of  truth  and  good.  &  our  enemys  are  many  subtle  power- 
full  &  unwearied. — 3 :  if  we  do  not  watch  we  are  liek  to  be  taken 
by  surprise. — 4:  God  will  leave  us  under  the  power  of  temptation 
in  iust  judgment,  if  we  neglect  the  use  of  means  appointed  by 
him. — 5  :  when  error  is  triumphant  &  glorys  in  the  number  of  'ts 
conquests  then  it  is  a  Harm  and  indeed  it  is  a  Shame  to  sleep 
then  with  Jonah,  the  tyme  the  enemy  sows  tears  is  when  men 
Sleep.  Mat.  13:  25.  And  we  must  cry  to  God  to  be  delivered 
from  temptation  &  the  evil,  if  othenvise  we  cannot  expect  these 
mercys.  for  all  these  things  will  God  be  enquird  of  the  house  of 
Israel.  &  has  not  our  Lord  instructed  us  in  the  patern  of  prayer 
he  has  given  us,  that  we  Suplicate  him  not  to  lead  us  into  tempta- 
tion. 

"  Now  my  Dear  Brethren  this  Subject  easily  aplys  itself,  it  is 
evident  to  every  discerning  eye  that  the  present  tymes  are  danger- 
ous on  many  acco's  &  especialy  in  respect  of  the  Spread  of  mora- 
vian  errors  wc  are  dangerous  and  destructive  to  the  souls  of  men. 
I  have  in  former  discourses  made  particular  mention  of  them,  the 
tyme  will  not  now  Suffer  me  to  enlarge.  I  shall  only  now  observ'e 
to  you  that  with  the  papists  they  hold  implicite  faith  &  that  ignor- 
ance is  the  mother  of  devotion,  with  ye  antinomians  justification 
from  the  tyme  of  Christ's  death,  they  reject  the  holy  law  of  God 
&  Say  yt  faith  consists  in  Assurance,  w'  the  arminians  they  hold 
Redemption  &  free  will,  with  the  quackers  &  other  enthusiasts 
they  decry  human  learning  &  human  reason,  oppose  the  stated  per- 
formance of  religious  duty  &  assert  the  doctrine  of  perfection, 
with  the  origenists  they  hold  a  redemption  out  of  hell.  &  there  is 
reason  to  suspect  them  of  Sabelianism.  they  medle  not  w'  the 
ungodly  among  professors,  but  only  as  wolvs  tear  the  fiesh  of 
Christ  in  pieces  &  that  with  much  Subtlety  &  artifice.  &  shouldnt 
we  then  mourn  &  lament  while  foxes  little  foxes  are  Spoling  the 
tender  grapes,  let  us  then  say  w'  the  prophet  for  Jerusalems 
Sake  I — O  its  enough  to  make  a  heart  of  iron  bleed  to  see  the 
instability  of  poor  creatures,  how  soon  alass  alass  do  Some  aban- 
done  the  Sweet  truths  of  Christ  for  the  fair  Shews  of  Strangers, 
let  us   then    not  only  contend    for  the— &:   in  meekness   instruct 


1 1 6  History  of  the  Oranges. 

those  that  oppose  themselvs— but  let  us  watch  &  pray  that  we  our 
Selves  be  not  led  into  temptation. 

"  Dear  Brethren  are  there  not  damnable  heresies  as  well  as 
damnable  practises.  &  dosent  the  one  lay  a  foundation  for  the 
other  ct  do  not  men  discover  the  naughtiness  of  their  hearts  by 
principle  as  well  as  practise.  I'm  sure  this  was  the  apostls  judg- 
ment. Some  went  out  from  us  because  they  were  not  of  us  there- 
fore heresys  must  come. 

"  Such  as  pray  that  they  maynt  be  led  into  temptation  &  yet  run 
into  it  contradict  theyr  prayer  by  y  practise.  O  Brethren  be  not 
as  children. — let  the  honour  of  God  the  interest  of  his  kingdom 
&  of  your  own  Souls  direct  you  to  watch.  Stand  fast  in  ye  Faith. 
I  conclude  wt  the  words  of  ye  text — 

"  is  it  not  awfully  evident  that  iniquity  abounds,  &  that  the  Love 
of  many  waxes  cold,  is  not  the  goodness  of  Some  like  the  morning 
cloud  &  early  Dew — do  they  not  return  like  the  dog  to  the  vomit 
&  like  the  Swine  that  was  washd  to  the  wallowing  in  the  myre. — 
is  not  the  word  preached  like  a  miscarying  womb  and  drie  brests 
comparatively.— is  there  not  a  great  decay  of  living  Christianity 
is  not  our  case  generally  like  that  of  the  churches  of  Ephesus  & 
Sardis — are  there  not  various  contentions  &  debates  among  pro- 
fessors, alienation  of  affection,  too  great  appearances  of  pride  & 
covetousness  &  prejudice, — are  not  truth,  justice,  candor  &  broth- 
erly kindness  too  much  disregarded  &  neglected,  &  on  the  con- 
trary do  not  falsehood  &  slander  preval,  &  is  there  no  Spread  of 
error  in  principle. 

"  well  if  the  case  be  so  is  it  not  a  dangerous  tyme  at  present — 
Does  not  Christ  mistical  suffer  &  yet  it  is  to  be  feard  many  wise 
virgins  Slumber  &  Sleep. — can  you  not  watch  with  a  Suffering 
Saviour  one  hour. — what  meanst  thou  O  Sleeper,  watch  &  pray 
lest  ye  enter. 

"  it  is  a  mercy  that  any  are  kept  standing  in  these  evil  tymes.  but 
shoudnt  those  that  Stand  take  heed  lest  yy  fall,  is  it  not  likely 
they  will  fall  if  they  do  not,  for  is  their  standing  of  themselvs, 
Surely  no,— &  is  it  likely  that  God  will  give  them  Strength  to 
Stand  when  they  willfully  neglect  the  means  he  has  appointed  ;— 
&  are  not  the  consequences  of  their  fall  very  dishonourable  to  the 


The  Mountain  Society.'''* 


117 


name  of  God,  prejudicial  to  their  own  Souls  &  the  interests  of 
religion  among  mankind.— are  not  the  pious  few  hereby  grivd, 
brot  into  contempt  and  their  influence  weakened  ;  are  not  the 
natural  prejudices  of  the  wicked  against  Christianity  hereby 
strengthened,  to  the  eternal  undoing  of  many !  on  wc  accot :  -|- 
pronounced  a  wo  upon  the  world  because  of  offences,  &  informs 
us  that  they  must  come — When  offenses  come  then  says  Christ 
blessed  is  the  man  that  is  not  offended  in  me,  offended  at  my 
Doctrine,  ways  [  ,]  it  is  the  neglect  of  watchfullness  that  is 

the  great  cause  of  the  blunders  of  professors,  O  let  us  therefore, 
Let  us  watch — Let  us  Let  our  light  shine  before  men  that  they 
may  See  our  good  works." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

KEY.    CALEB   SMITH. 

DURINGr  the  long  pastorate  of  Rev.  Daniel  Taylor, 
covering  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  the 
Mountain  Society  became  a  well  established  Christian 
church.  Founded,  as  we  have  shown,  with  great 
unanimity  u^Don  a  Congregational  basis,  and  with  set- 
tled convictions  in  favor  of  that  form  of  church  order, 
it  was  cherished  as  such  throughout  the  lifetime  of  its 
first  pastor.  When  he  came  to  the  pastorate,  and  dur- 
ing the  lirst  years  of  his  ministry,  the  churches  in  the 
neighboring  towns  and  throughout  the  province  were 
Congregational,  excepting  that  at  Newark.  He  was 
thus  in  affiliation  and  sympathy  with  them  ;  and  lived 
to  see  them  all  brought  into  union  with  Presbytery. 
The  historian  of  1729  records  that  all  the  churches  of 
the  Congregational  order  became  Presbyterian,  except 
"  the  one  in  the  mountains  back  of  Newark."  There 
are  reasons  to  believe  that  the  events  of  the  period, 
ecclesiastical  and  civil,  had  gradually  wrought  a  change 
in  the  minds  of  both  pastor  and  people  at  the  Moun- 
tain upon  the  expediency  of  a  transfer  of  their  eccle- 
siastical relations.  The  Rev.  Mr,  Dickinson,  of  Eliz- 
abethtown,  (of  whom  Erskine,  of  Edinburgh,  said  that 
the  British  Isles  have  produced  no  such  writers  on  di- 
vinity in  the  eighteenth  century  as  Dickinson  and  Ed- 


Rev.   Caleb  Smith.  HQ 

wards,)  was  a  fellow-student  with  Mr.  Taylor  in  college. 
They  were  nearly  of  the  same  age.     They  were  in  cor- 
dial sympathy  in  the  revival  labors  of  Tennent,  White- 
field  and  Cross,  in  1739-40.    Both  contested  the  claims 
of  the  East  Jersey  Proprietors,  and  were  leaders  and 
counsellors  of  their  people  in  the  defence  of  their  home- 
steads and  of  popular  rights.     Harmony  of  thought 
engenders  friendship,    and  concert  of  action  fosters 
mutual  confidence  and  esteem.     Their  parishes  were 
contiguous.     There  was  a  common  bond  of  sympathy, 
and  a  very  strong  one,  too,  in  their  worldly  relations, 
naturally  prompting  to  more  perfect  unity  in  their 
Christian  work.     Each  parish  was  called  to  bury  its 
pastor  within  the  space  of  three  months— Dickinson 
in  October,'  1747 -Taylor  in  January  following. 

That  the  progress  of  events  had  wrought  a  change 
of  opinion  in  the  Mountain  Society  is  made  apparent 
in  its  action  upon  the  death  of  its  pastor.  It  was  only 
six  days  after  Mr.  Taylor' s  decease,  January  14,  1747-8, 

that  "The  West  Society  of  Newark  at  the  Mountains" 
had  a  public  meeting,  "in  order  to  settle  a  minister," 
and  the  Society  ordered  Eleazer  Lamson  to  have  the 
care  of  the  Book  of  Records.  The  above  minute  is  on 
•the  second  page  of  a  book  in  the  archives  of  the  church. 
On  the  opposite  page  to  this  minute  is  found  "The 
Book  of  Records  for  T  Presbyterians."  Though  the 
book  is  a  large  one,  there  is  no  further  record  of  the 
progress  of  church  affairs  on  its  pages.  It  did  not 
become  a  book  of  record.  Portions  of  it  were  subse- 
quently used  for  miscellaneous  memoranda. 


I20  History  of  the  Oranges. 

The  record  of  its  opening  pages  is  significant,  when 
we  consider  it  as  one  of  the  first  links  in  the  chain  of 
facts,  which  in  eight  months  thereafter  resulted  in  the 
ordination  and  installation  of  a  new  pastor  by  the 
Presbytery  of  New  York.  The  quaint  volume,  nearly 
a  century  and  a  half  old,  with  the  more  quaint,  con- 
cise writings  on  its  first  page,  furnishes  testimony  well 
nigh  conclusive  that  the  expediency  of  a  change  of 
ecclesiastical  relations  had  received  favorable  consid- 
eration by  both  pastor  and  people  before  the  death  of 
Mr.  Taylor.  The  historical  value  of  the  record  has 
never  arrested  the  attention  of  the  historian  ;  nor  has 
it  ever  been  noticed  as  suggesting  an  answer  to  the  in- 
quiry so  often  made  in  the  long  years  which  have  fol- 
lowed, how  it  came  about  that  the  Mountain  Society, 
organized  as  Congregational,  became  in  after  years 
Presbyterian.  The  change  was  resolved  upon  as  its 
first  act  when  the  society  was  called  to  face  the  neces- 
sity of  calling  a  new  pastor.  The  history  of  the  New- 
ark Church  repeated  itself  twenty-nine  years  after- 
wards at  the  Mountain.  The  change  to  the  Presby- 
terian order  came  by  the  logic  of  events,  and  as  Dr. 
Stearns,  of  the  Newark  Church,  says,  "was  natural, 
easy  and  excited  little  discussion."  ^ 

The  Rev.  Caleb  Smith  was  a  grand-son  of  Col.  Wil- 
liam Smith,  a  native  of  England.  He  was  in  great 
favor  with  Charles  II.,  who  appointed  him  in  1675 
Governor  of  Tangiers,  and,  probably,  made  him  com- 
mander of  his  Majesty's  troops  sent  there  for  the  pro- 
tection of  an  establishment  on  that  barbarous  coast, 
giving  him  at  the  same  time  the  commission  of  Colonel. 
He  came  to  New  York  in  1686,  and  made  purchases  of 
lands  at  Brookhaven,  Long  Island,  acquiring  a  large 


See  Stearns'  History  of  First  Church,  Newark,  p.  128. 


Rev.   Caleb  Smith.  121 

tract  of  country,  extending  from  the  South  Bay  and 
Fire  Place  to  the  Mastic  River  on  the  north  side.  For 
this  domain,  which  he  named  St.  George's  Manor,  he 
obtained  a  patent  from  Gov.  Fletcher  in  1693.  ^  He 
held  high  official  stations,  being  a  member  of  the 
Council,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  com- 
mander of  the  militia  of  Suffolk  County.  He  died  In 
1705,  aged  50,  leaving  sons  and  daughters.  His  eldest 
son,  Henry,  was  a  man  of  distinction,  and  also  hon- 
ored with  high  official  station.  His  son,  William,  also 
distinguished  by  positions  of  honor,  was  the  father  of 
the  subject  of  our  notice. 

Rev.  Caleb  Smith  was  born  at  St.  George's  Manor, 
Mastic,  Township  of  Brookha^en,  L.  I.,  December  29, 
1723.     His  mother's  maiden  name  was  Sears. ^ 

He  was  graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1743,  being 
then  twenty  years  of  age.     It  would  appear  from  his 

diary  that  he  was  con- 
.--//^  verted  to  Christ  dur- 
^^T^^^rl^  ing  his  course  of  col- 
lege study.  It  was  at  this  time  that  the  Rev. 
Jonathan  Dickinson  had  a  classical  school  in  opera- 
tion in  Elizabethtown.  He  also  received  into  his  house 
young  men  seeking  instruction  in  theology.^  Soon 
after  Mr.  Smith  had  received  his  college  honors,  he 
was  invited  by  Mr.  Dickinson  to  become  an  assistant 

1.  See  Thompson's  History  of  Long  Island,  Vol.  I.,  p.  4i7-  Earl  Bell- 
omont,  in  addressing  the  Lords  of  Trade,  complains  of  Fletcher  that  he  gave 
extravagant  grants  of  land  to  those  whom  he  favored— to  Beekman,  Living- 
ston, Schuyler,  Rennselaer,  on  the  Hudson  River;  to  Bayard,  Pinhorn  and 
others  on  the  Mohawk  ;  the  King's  farm  at  New  York  to  the  church  ;  the 
King's  garden  to  Heathcote  ;  and  to  Col.  William  Smith,  a  grant  fifty  miles 
long,  and  the  whole  breadth  of  the  Island  of  Nassau,  "worth  more  than  any 
of  them  all,"  valued,  by  Bellomont,  at  £25,000.  {Broadhead's  New  York 
Col.  Doc.) 

2.  See  Dexter's  Annals  of  Yale,  p.  747. 

3.  Hatfield's  History  of  Elizabethtown,  p.  349. 


122  History  of  the  Oranges. 

teacher  in  his  school.  While  there  he  studied  divinity, 
and  was  licensed  to  preach  the  Gospel  by  the  Presby- 
tery of  New  York,  in  April,  1747.  The  school  of  Mr. 
Dickinson  was  the  germ  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 
Through  the  active  agency  of  Mr.  Dickinson  a  charter 
was  obtained  October  22, 1746,  ' '  to  incorporate  sundry 
persons  to  found  a  college  ;"  and  in  the  following  May, 
the  first  term  was  opened  in  Elizabethtown,  with  Mr. 
Dickinson  as  its  first  president.  Mr.  Caleb  Smith, 
then  in  his  24th  year,  and  within  a  month  after  his 
licensure,  was  employed  as  its  first  tutor.  ^ 

Mr,  Dickinson  dex)arted  this  life  five  months  after 
the  college  was  opened,  an  event  which  arrested  the 
progress  of  the  new  enterprise  in  Elizabethtown.  The 
pupils,  eight  in  number,  were  transferred  to  Newark 
and  placed  under  the  instruction  of  the  Rev.  Aaron 
Burr,  who,  as  early  as  1746,  had  there  a  Latin  school. 
After  receiving  the  students  from  Elizabethtown  he 
continued  the  charge  of  his  own  school,  employing 
one  or  two  assistants.  Whether  Mr.  Smith' s  tutorship 
ceased  or  not,  upon  the  removal  of  his  pupils  to  the 
school  of  Mr.  Burr,  does  not  app)ear.  No  mention  is 
made  of  him  in  that  connection.  He  was  at  this  time  a 
licensed  preacher,  and  was  popular  in  the  churches  as 
a  young  minister.  On  September  7, 1748,  eight  months 
after  the  death  of  her  honored  father,  he  married  Mar- 
tha, the  youngest  daughter  of  Mr.  Dickinson,  and  on 
November  30th,  of  the  same  year,  was  ordained  and 
installed  by  his  Presbytery  as  pastor  of  the  Mountain 
Society.  He  accepted  the  pastor's  office  here  after 
much  consideration,  having,  as  his  memoir  says,  "at 
one  and  the  same  time  several  unanimous  calls  to  settle 
in  the  Gospel  ministry."      Being  unwilling  to  decide 


I.   Dexter's  Annals  of  Yale,  etc.,  p.  747. 

% 


Rev.   Caleb  Smith.  123 

for  himself,  he  asked  the  Presbytery  to  assign  his  work 
for  him,  which  they  declined  to  do.  The  Mountain 
Society  was,  probably,  organized  by  Presbytery  as  a 
Presbyterian  Church  when  the  installation,  as  pastor, 
of  one  of  the  licensed  members  took  place.  Three 
persons  were  constituted  elders,  viz :  Joseph  Peck, 
Joseph  Riggs  and  John  Smith. 

The  new  pastor  had  lived  in  the  Province  long- 
enough  to  know  something  of  the  religious  and  civil 
condition  of  the  people.  A  low  state  of  religion  char- 
acterized the  time.  The  controversies  between  the 
planters  and  the  Proprietors  absorbed  their  thoughts, 
fostering  disorder  and  evil  passions.  If  we  have  rightly 
estimated  the  popular  mind,  the  intensity  of  feeling 
was  somewhat  diminished  at  the  time  of  Mr.  Taylor's 
death.     The  apparent  unwillingness  of  the  Proprietors 

to  bring  their  case 
to  an  issue  in  court, 
and  the  delays  in 
bringing  actions  of 
trespass  and  ejectment  to  trial,  strengthened  the 
people  in  the  assurance  of  the  righteousness  of  their 
cause,  and  of  their  own  acts,  as  well  as  of  theii- 
final  success  in  maintaining  what  they  believed  to 
be  their  rights.  It  is  true  that  many  of  the  best 
men  in  our  new  minister's  parish  were  arrested  and 
convicted  as  rioters,  but  their  reputation,  as  good 
and  worthy  men,  was  not  discredited  thereby.  The 
times  were  troublous  and  were  ominous  of  a  more 
troublous  future.  The  questions  of  right  between  the 
planters  and  the  Proprietors  were  giving  place  to 
broader  questions  of  right  between  the  colonies  and 
the  King  and  his  parliament.  The  young  pastor  w^as 
not  trained,  nor  was  he  constituted  by  his  nature  to 
take  a  leading  part  in  public  concerns.     Through  all 


124  History  of  the  Oranges. 

the  years  of  his  pastorate  there  was  a  general  disregard 
of  religious  things.  It  was  a  period  of  backsliding 
and  defection  throughout  the  Provinces.  The  Moun- 
tain Society  jpartook  of  the  general  degeneracy.  Mr. 
Smith  was  recognized  as  a  man  of  great  prudence,  of 
careful  judgment  and  of  great  method  in  the  manage- 
ment of  matters  which  came  within  his  sphere  of  duty. 
He  was  not  a  stranger  to  the  homes  and  families  of  his 
parish,  teaching  from  house  to  house,  knowing  the 

children  by  name, 
and,  as  they  grew 
in  years,  imparting 
to  them  religious  instruction.  Having  a  quick  per- 
ception and  a  tenacious  memory,  he  brought  himself 
into  fellowship  with  all  classes,  assured,  as  they  came 
to  be,  of  a  cordial  and  sympathizing  greeting  when- 
ever they  met  him.  With  such  characteristics,  we  can 
readily  accept  the  encomium  of  his  biographer,  that 
"there  was  a  remarkable  harmony,  concord  and  satis- 
faction in  his  congregation  during  the  whole  course  of 
his  ministry." 

He  was  a  severe  student,  and  was  distinguished  as 
a  scholar — careful  to  write  out  his  sermons  in  full, 
though  an  easy  extempore  speaker.  He  had  a  clear, 
audible  voice,  somewhat  monotonous,  but  pleasant 
withal  and  agreeable  to  the  listener.  His  want  of  ac- 
tion in  speaking  diminished,  however,  his  power  over 
an  audience.  In  the  later  years  of  his  ministry  lie 
became  subject  to  attacks  of  vertigo,  being  comjDelled 
at  times  to  support  himself  by  the  desk.  Some  of  his 
sermons  and  briefs  are  preserved  among  the  archives 
of  the  church.  Two  only  were  printed;  one,  "An 
Exhortation  to  the  People,"  at  Connecticut  Farms, 
1750,  at  the  ordination  and  settlement  of  Rev.  Daniel 


Rev.   Caleb  Smith.  125 

Thane.  ^  The  other  sermon,  of  which  more  is  known, 
was  written  on  the  death  of  President  Bun\  It  was 
composed  at  a  time  when  he  was  much  affected  by  his 
infirmitj''.  In  his  diarj^  he  records  liis  effort  to  over- 
come "the  unconquerable  dullness  and  inaptitude  for 
study"  which  he  experienced,  and  says:  "I  drag  on 
very  heavily  with  my  sermon :  my  faculties  are  at 
present  exceeding  dull ;  this  has  been  a  humbling  busi- 
ness to  me:  'tis  inconceivable  what  difRculties  I  have 
met  in  the  composition  of  this  discourse,  *  *  * 
time  has  been  when  I  could  have  wrote  out,  I  suppose, 
ten  discourses  at  large  while  I  have  had  this  in  hand." 
This  sermon  on  the  death  of  Burr  was  delivered  in 
Nassau  Hall,  at  a  meeting  of  the  trustees  of  the  col- 
lege, December  15,  1757,  and  was  published  at  their 
desire. 2  Its  title  was:  "Diligence  in  the  work  of 
God  and  Activity  during  Life.     Eccls.  ix  :  10  ;  Matt. 


1.  Mr.  Thane  was  one  of  the  pupils  of  the  class  in  the  college  at  Eliz- 
abethtown  under  the  tutorship  of  Mr.  Smith.  We  do  not  know  of  the  ex- 
istence of  any  copy  of  this  sermon.  Hatfield,  in  his  History  of  Elizabeth- 
town,  says  that  it  was  a  charge  to  the  people,  and,  together  with  the  sermon 
of  the  occasion  by  Rev.  Thomas  Arthur,  of  New  Brunswick,  was  "issued 
from  the  press." 

2.  In  the  account-book  of  Mr.  Smith,  p.  104,  is  the  statement  of  this  ac- 
count which  he  kept  with  the  College  of  New  Jersey  : 

1759,  Sept.  13. 

Debt'r  To  Cash  I  paid  Gaine  the  Printer, 

To  a  farther  Payment  to  him  of  Money  sent  with  some  for 
Lieut.  Williams,         ...... 

1759,  June  27.  Cont.  Credit. 

Upon  looking  over  the  amount  of  Tickets  in  the  Connecti- 
cut Lottery,  I  find  I  am  in  Debt  in  York  currency,        3     10     o 

To  Cash  Received  for  Sermons  sold  while  I  was  in   Prince- 
ton in  Proc,      .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .380 

To  Cash  received  for  Sermons  sold  at  home  in  York  currency,  2     10     o 

To  an  Allowance  made  by  Tho's  Brown  for  Sermons  he  had 

yk  money, II20 

To  what  Mr.  Green  is  to  pay  for  Eleven  Sermons. 

To  what  Captn  Lemul   Bowers  is  to  pay  for  Six  Sermons. 


£ 

s.     d. 

6 

10    0 

yk 

0 

4     0 

yk 

126  History  of  the   Oranges. 

XXV :  21.     I^ew  York,  printed  by  Hngh  Gaine,  at  the 
Bible  &  Crown,  mdcclviii." 

Mr.  Smith  was  at  this  time  a  trustee  of  the  college, 
having  been  elected  seven  years  before.  The  manu- 
script was  committed  to  his  hands  for  publication. 

Watson's  Annals  notices  a  lottery  in  Philadelphia 
in  1720.  They  were  soon  introduced  into  New  Jersey, 
and  in  1748,  "there  was  hardly  a  town  that  had  not 
some  scheme  on  foot."  (Whitehead's  Contributions.) 
Citizens  of  the  most  respectable  standing  gave  them 
sanction  by  becoming  managers.  The  causes  to  be  pro- 
moted were  laudable,  and  the  mode  of  raising  money 
was  recognized  as  right  and  proper. 

Elizabethtown  had  a  lottery  for  building  a  parson- 
age, £1,050.  New  Providence  wanted  a  parsonage  also  ; 
sum  required  £152,  53s.  Amwell,  likewise,  requiring 
£650,  for  finishing  the  Presbyterian  meeting-house,  tried 
a  scheme.  One  was  also  tried  at  Newark  for  complet- 
ing the  church  there,  and  others,  not  named,  were  all 
advertised  in  the  New  York  papers  within  one  year. 

Toward  \hQ  close  of  1748,  an  act  was  passed  prohibit- 
ing any  lottery  within  the  Province  under  heavy  pen- 
alties. The  act  was  evaded  by  having  the  lotteries 
drawn  out  of  the  Province.  The  first  infringement 
appears  to  have  been  in  the  next  year  for  the  benefit  of 
Princeton  College  ;  one  for  £1,500,  having  been  set  up 
in  Philadelphia,  and  another  for  the  college  in  Con- 
necticut. Still  another  for  finishing  a  church  in  Tren- 
ton was  drawn  in  the  same  year,  on  the  other  side  of 
the  river.  St.  John's  Church,  Elizabethtown,  (tickets 
to  be  had  of  the  rector) ;  Trinity  Church,  Newark ; 
The  Church  of  England,  in  New  Brunswick,  and  many 
more  at  various  places  and  for  various  purposes,  which 
were  commendable,  'per  se,  received  means  to  promote 


Rev.   Caleb  Smith.  127 

them.  They  continued  to  exist,  more  or  less,  till  the 
Revolution. 

A  scholar  himself,  Mr.  Smith  was  prompted  to  give 
much  of  his  time  and  his  personal  efforts  to  the  promo- 
tion of  learning.  In  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  college, 
he  was  one  to  whom  were  committed  important  respon- 
sibilities. Upon  the  death  of  President  Burr,  he  visited 
in  behalf  of  the  trustees  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards, 
then  at  Stockbridge,  Mass.,  to  persuade  him  to  assume 
the  x^residency  of  the  institution.  His  efforts  were  suc- 
cessful, and  Mr.  Edwards  was  inducted  into  office. 
His  decease  within  a  few  weeks  after  his  accession, 
being  stricken  down  by  small  pox,  caused  again  a 
vacancy  which  was  filled  by  Mr,  Smith,  as  president 
ad  interim.,  until  the  election  and  accession  of  Presir 
dent  Davies,  in  1759.  In  the  case  of  Mr.  Davies  also, 
our  Mountain  pastor  was  deputed  to  visit  Virginia, 
and  to  use  his  personal  influence  in  behalf  of  the  col- 
lege. Though  his  Presbytery  opposed  his  removal, 
and  advised  him  to  decline  the  appointment,  Ww 
Davies  Anally  "felt  himself  constrained  to  yield  to 
the  representations"  of  Mr.  Smith.  In  his  own  Pres- 
bytery and  in  the  Synod,  he  was  a  valuable  associate, 
and  was  much  relied  on  in  draughting  difficult  papers, 
acting  as  stated  clerk  and  register,  and  for  some  years 
correspondent  over  the  seas  and  to  distant  parts. 

The  members  of  his  parish  were  rated  according  to 
a  fixed  schedule — by  the  head  above  sixteen  yeai's ; 
their  acres,  upland  and  meadow,  proportionately  ;  their 
horses,  oxen,  cattle  and  other  stock,  according  to  age. 

The  people  agreed  upon  a  certain  sum  to  be  paid  to 
the  minister  annually.  The  number  of  those  rated  in 
the  parish,  about  1759,  was  one  hundred  and  nine. 
The  highest  rate,  that  of  Samuel  Harrison,  was  £2, 16s. ; 
one  other,  £2,  0,  0  ;  twenty-one  others,  one  pound  and 


128  History  of  the  Oranges. 

some  shillings  ;  all  others  by  shillings  and  pence,  from 
two  shillings  and  upwards  to  a  pound.  The  aggregate 
amount  was  ^^'6^  2s.  8d.  ;  equal  to  about  $220  procla- 
mation money,  and  $175  York.  The  collection  of  the 
rates  was  committed  to  the  minister  himself.  Three 
of  the  accounts,  taken  from  his  book,  are  sufficient  to 
illustrate  his  methods  of  obtaining  his  revenues  : 

Debf  Jedidiah  Crane, 

Rate,  1755, 

Rate,  1756 

Rate,  1757, 

Rate,  1758, 

June  II,  1759.     We  Reckoned  and  ballanced, 

1757.     Cont.  Credit. 

To  2  I  2  you  paid  for  Tobacco,    . 
Oct.  9,  1757.     To  cash  paid  me  at  Grays, 

To  cash  at  3  I  8,   . 
Aug.  2,  1758.     To  cash  paid  me  in  the  Street, 
Jan.  5,   1762.     To  one  Dollar,      .        .        .        . 


Debf  Samuel  Harrison,  Senr 

1758,  May  19.     Then  Reckoned  and  remains  due  to  me. 
To  your  Rate,  1758,         .        .        .         . 
To  your  Rate,  1759,      .... 
To  your  Rate,  1760,         .        .         .         . 
To  your  Rate,  1761,      .... 

Cont.  Cred' 
1758,  June  12.     To  Gammons  for  Mr,   Maltby, 

29  lbs.  at  6d,, 

Oct.   I,  1759.     To  cash  paid  me  at  your  house,    . 
Aug.  5,  1761.     To  cash  paid  me  at  your  house. 

To  3  lb.  Hog's  Fat  at  6d  per  lb.,  . 
Jan.  16, 1762.    To  135  lb.  of  Pork  at  4^1  per  lb.. 


L 

s. 

d. 

0 

3 

6 

0 

3 

6 

0 

5 

0 

0 

5 

0 

0 

0 

0 

L 

s. 

d. 

0 

2 

2 

0 

I 

4 

0 

3 

8 

0 

5 

3 

0 

8 

8 

£ 

s. 

d. 

0 

9 

7 

2 

12 

0 

2 

15 

I 

2 

8 

7 

2 

9 

6 

£ 

s. 

d. 

0 

14 

6 

I 

15 

0 

3 

10 

0 

0 

I 

6 

2 

5 

0 

The  Glebe.  129 

1756.    Debf  Samuel  Cundict,  Junr 

Feb.  6.  To  your  Rate,  1753,  .... 

To  your  Rate,  1754,     .... 

To  your  Rate,  1755,         .... 

May  6.  Then  ballanced,  .... 

Sept.  13,  1758.    To  your  Rate,  1758,  not  crossed,  whether 
by  Mistake  or  not  I  cannot  tell, 

To  your  Rate,  1760, 

To  your  Rate,  1761,         .... 
1756.     Cont.  Credt 

Feb.  5.  To  one  Bushel  of  Wheat, 

May  6.  To  plowing  a  day,  .... 

To  cash,  2  sg.,  .... 

Feb.  16,1759.    Then  Reckoned  and  settled  our  accounts, 
Jan.  II,  1760.     To  1  Bushel  &  half  of  Wheat  we  forgot 

in  our  last  Reckoning, 
Dec.  29,  1761.     To  I  Bushel  of  Indian  Corn, 
To  40  Posts  at  5^  per  Post, 

Jan.  28,  1762.      Then  Reckoned  and  is  due  to  you,        .013 

Other  accounts  sliow  that  payments  to  the  minister 
were  made  in  hay,  carting,  cider,  weaving,  shoes,  pro- 
visions from  the  farm,  carpenter  and  blacksmith  work, 
store  supplies,  etc.,  etc. 

THE   GLEBE. 

The  deed  for  the  glebe  is  the  earliest  among  the 
parish  archives,  and  was  never  recorded  in  the  jDublic 
records  of  the  county.  It  describes  Thomas  Gardner, 
the    grantor,    as   a    "yeoman,"    and   was   made    for 

^---<^  —  ' '  divers  good  causes 

(J Acrm^CL^  C^^^^cJyf'J^  ^^^    considerations 
v->'  dy  him  thereunto  mov- 

ing, but  more  esptecially  for  and  in  consideration  of  the 
sum  of  twenty-five  pounds,  currant  money  of  New- 
York  ;"  and  it  conveyed  unto  Samuel  Freeman,  Sam- 

9 


L 

s. 

d. 

0 

3 

9 

0 

4 

0 

0 

7 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

12 

5 

0 

12 

10 

0 

15 

17 

£ 

s. 

d. 

0 

5 

6 

0 

6 

6 

0 

2 

9 

0 

0 

0 

£ 

s. 

d. 

0 

9 

0 

0 

4 

0 

0 

16 

8 

130  History   of  the  Oranges. 

uel  Pierson,  Mattliew  Williams  and  Samuel  Wheeler, 
' '  yeomen, ' '  a  certain  tract  of  land  ' '  Scittuate,  Lying  and 
Being  In  the  Bounds  and  Limmits  of  Newark  aforesd, 
on  tire  East  Side  of  a  Brook  Commonly  Called  and 
Known  by  the  Name  of  Parows  Brook  Begining  at 
said  Brook  Near  a  bridge  by  Road  that  Leads  to  the 
Mountain,  thence  runing  Easterly  as  the  Road  Runs 
so  far  as  that  a  South  Westerly  Line  Cross  the  said 
Lott  (it  being  Twelve  Chaines  In  breadth)  Shall  In- 
clude Twenty  Acres  of  land  English  Measure,  Bound- 
ed Southerly  with  Joseph  Harrison  Westerly  with  said 
Parows  Brook  Northerly  with  said  Mountain  Road 
and  Easterly  with  my  own  land."  This  grant  is  to  per- 
sons above  named,  and  "the  Society  at  the  Mountain 
Associates  with  them,  and  to  their  heirs  &  assignes 
for  Ever  to  the  proper  use,  Benifitt  and  behooffe  of 
them  and  their  Associates  for  Ever  to  be  and  remain 
for  the  use  and  Benifitt  of  a  Disenting  Ministry  such 
as  shall  be  called  to  that  work  by  the  Grantees  before 
named  and  their  Associates  from  time  to  time  and  at  all 
times  for  Ever  hereafter."  The  deed  was  witnessed 
by  Samuel  Harrison,  and  was  acknowledged  before 
Joseph  Harrison,  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  on  the  3d  day  of  April,  1729. 

This  conveyance  j)rovided  the  minister  with  a  farm 
of  twenty  acres  ;^  the  necessary  labor  on  which  was 
chiefly  secured  by  payments  of  rates.  A  day's  work 
was  credited  at  2s.  3d.,  and  3s.  ;  carting,  with  team, 
all  day,  8s.  ;  carting  a  load  to  Newark,  2s.  6d.  The 
supply  of  wood  was  at  the  expense  of  the  parish. 
These  arrangements  for  the  comfort  of  the  pastor, — 
twenty  acres  of  land  for  cultivation,  with  ample  pro- 
vision of  fuel  and  ready  money,— were,  in  that  era  of 

I.   See  page  102. 


The  Grafumar  School.  131 

frugal  habits  and  a  moderate  standard  of  living,  quite 
equal  to,  and  perhaps  more  than,  the  average  revenues 
of  ministers  of  the  Gospel  in  the  country  parishes  of 
the  present  day. 

That  the  Mountain  pastor  carefully  husbanded  his 
resources  appears  from  a  memorandum  in  his  account- 
book,  on  the  last  page  or  cover,  as  follows  : 

Memorandum,  Newark  Moitntaz'ns,  March,  1759. 

"Then  I  put  out,  to  Josiah  Baldwin,  of  Persippenny,  Six  grown 

Slieep  and  three  Lambs,  which  he  has  taken  for  two  years,  and 

then,  if  he  chuses  it,  or  if  I  demand  them,  he  is  to  return  the  like 

Number  of  grown   Sheep  and   Lambs,  or  keep  them  longer,  as  we 

shall  agree,  and  during  the  Time  he  has  the  Sheep  he  is  to  pay 

me  Six  Pounds  of  Wool  per  Year,  which  he  is  to  take  care  to  send 

me  yearly,  soon  after  the  Time  of  Shearing.     When  the  Sheep  are 

returned  it  is  to  be  about  the  same  Time  of  the  Year  he  took  them 

away. 

Memodm  The  Wool  sent  for  the  year  1759. 

Memodm   The  Wool  was  sent  for  the  year  1760. 

Memodni  The  Wool  was  sent  for  the  year  1761." 

ME.    smith's   GKAMMAR  SCHOOL. 

In  the  year  when  Mr.  Smith  came  to  the  Newark 
Mountains,  the  College  at  Princeton  bestowed  its 
honors  upon  its  first  class  of  graduates.  Yale  College 
had  been  established  forty-seven  years,  and  Harvard 
one  hundred  and  six  years.  The  early  clergy  of  New 
England  were  scholarly  men,  educated  at  the  English 
Universities.  As  occasion  required,  they  gave  private 
instruction  in  the  classics,  in  divinity,  and  in  medicine. 
The  youth  who  aspired  to  college  honors  were  pre- 
pared by  private  tutors.  A  call  for  a  course  of  sys- 
tematic preliminary  study  gave  rise  to  Latin  schools, 
or  "grammar  schools."  These  institutions  became 
quite  general,  many  of  them  being  of  a  high  order. 
After    the    Revolution    they    gave    place    to    incor- 


132  History  of  the  Oranges. 

porated  academies,  many  of  which  became  distin- 
guished seats  of  learning.  These,  in  their  turn,  have, 
in  our  day,  been  superseded  by  the  high  schools  under 
the  present  system  of  public  instruction.  Mr.  Smith 
having  been  trained,  by  education  and  practice,  to 
tutorship,  establisiied  a  grammar  school  which  he  con- 
ducted during  the  last  four  years  of  his  pastorate.  It 
does  not  appear  from  his  account-book  that  he  had 
many  pupils.  Those  who  came  to  him  for  instruction 
were  almost  wholly  from  abroad.  Some  entries  in  his 
book  admit  the  inference  that  they  did  not  become  in- 
mates of  his  household,  as  he  refers  to  his  "steward" 
in  matters  relating  to  the  accommodations  of  the  boys. 
These  school  accounts  have  their  historical  value.  The 
first  one  which  we  shall  quote  is  against  a  young  man 
who  afterwards  became  prominent  in  the  affairs  of  the 
neighborhood. 

1759.  Debf  Matthias  Pierson. 
'  Jan.  29.    You  came  to  School. 

May   9.     To  a  Lattin  Dictionary 

To  I  Quire  of  Paper,         .... 
Jan.     I,     To  the  use  of  Justin, 

1760.  To  I  Greek  Lexicon,  .... 
To  I  Greek  Testament,  .... 
To  I  Greek  Grammar, 

Feb.   4.    To  what  is  due  towards  your  Schooling  last 

1760.  year,  viz.,  unto  Jan.  29,  1760, 
To  I  Virgil  in  Usum  Delphine, 

Jan.  28.     To  Lucian's  Dialogues,  .... 

1761.  To  your  Schooling  untill  Jan.  29,  1761,    . 


L 

s. 

d. 

0 

17 

ID 

0 

I 

-^ 

0 

0 

6 

0 

15 

2 

0 

5 

5 

0 

2 

8i 

4 

0 

0 

0 

15 

0 

0 

10 

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4 

0 

0 

L  s. 

d. 

o    S 

9 

O    II 

7 

2    12 

6 

2     5 

6 

I       8 

2 

4      2 

3 

The  Gratmnar  School.  133 

1759.       Cont.  Cred' 

June  12.    To  Cash  8  |  9, 

Oct.  30.     To  Cash  had  of  you  in  our  voyage,   . 
Feb.   4.     To  Cash  toward  your  Schooling, 
July  II,  1760.     To  Cash  paid,  _£2,  5,  6, 
Dec.  30, 1760.     To  Cash  paid,  ^i,  8,  2, 

To  Cash,  ^4,  2,  3 

Apl.  26,  1 761.     Then  Reckoned  and  ballanced  until  Jan. 

29,  1761, 000 

Oct.  26,  1761.     Then  Received  of  you  £2,  o,  o.     It  being  in  full 
for  your  Schooling  until  you  entered  the  college. 

The  grammar  school  was  commenced  in  1757.  Two 
of  its  earliest  pupils  were  John  and  William,  sons  of 
John  Woodhull,  of  St.  George' s  Manor,  L.  I. ,  who  was 
of  good  estate.  He  married  Elizabeth,  a  sister  of  Rev. 
Caleb  Smith.  The  account  against  him  reads  as 
follows : 

Debf      John  Woodhull,  York  Money. 

To  I  Quire  of  Writing  Paper  for  your  son, 

To  the  Newark  Grammar,! 

To  Clark's  Introduction  for  making  Lattin, 

To  Scaling  one  Pair  of  Shoes  by  Jacob, 

To  I  Corderius  &  i  Erasmus, 

To  half  Quire  of  Paper  for  5'-our  Son, 

To  Cash  to  your  Son  when  going  home, 

To  Cash  paid  to  defray  your  Son's  expences, 

To  an  old  Hat  of  mine,  .... 

To  Dressing  the  Hat  by  Nehemiah  Baldwin, 
Sept.  28.     Paid  the  Steward  for  Billey's  Board, 

Paid  Sayre  for  mending  his  Shoes, 

To  a  Taylor  for  making  a  Banyan,     . 

To  Jos.  Yard  for  cloath  trimmings  for  Ban- 
yan,       o  17 


1757. 

Oct. 

D 

26. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

15- 

April 

17- 

May 

6. 

1758. 

£ 

s. 

d. 

0 

I 

6 

0 

2 

6 

0 

3 

0 

0 

I 

9 

0 

4 

3 

0 

0 

10 

0 

10 

0 

0 

6 

4 

0 

5 

0 

0 

2 

2 

5 

8 

0 

3 

0 

0 

5 

3 

I.  A  Latin  Grammar  prepared,  it  is  supposed,  by  Mr.  Aaron  Burr,  and 
was  used  in  the  College  at  Princeton.  Maclean's  History  of  Princeton 
College,  I.,  p.  165. 


^134  History  of  the  Oranges. 

£  s.  d. 

To  Mrs.  Field  for  Washing  for  Billey,       .        0130 
To  the  Odds  of  the  Money  betwixt  proc. 

&  Y.  m.,  in  the  five  last  Articles,     .         .        o  19     5 
To  I  Quire  of  Paper  of  Gray,        .        .         .019 

May,  1759.  To  a  Lattin  Dictionary,              .        .         .  o  17     o 

To  a  Eutropius, o     5     5 

Sept.  13.    To  a  Sallust, 090 

Dec.     8.    To  I  Quire  of  Paper, o     i     i 

Jan.  I.  To  I  Greek  Lexicon,  .  .  .  .  o  14  o 
1760.  To  I  Greek  Testament,  .  .  .  .050 
To  I  Greek  Grammar,  .  .  .  .  026 
To  Ovid's  Metamorphoses,  with  English,  .  o  12  o^ 
To  Soaling  i  Pair  of  Shoes,  .  .  .  019 
To  Wood  &  Candles  in  the  Winter,  .  .  o  10  o 
To  your  Expences  in  going  Home,  .  .  073 
To  Billey's  Schooling 100 

June  12.     To  I  Virgil  at  14  |  for  Billey,      .        .         .        o  14    o 
1760.        To  I  Tully's  Orations  for  Billey,     .         .         .0130 

Nov.  26.     Then  your  Son  John  came  to  School  at  the 
1760.  Rate  of  £1$,  o,  o,  York  money. 

To  I  Grammar  for  John,  2  |  6,   .        .        .        026 
To  I  Pair  of  Shoes  for  Billey,        .        .         .080 

Jan.    28.     To  Lucian's  Dialogues  for  Billey,       .        .        o  10    o 

1761.       To  an  old  Cordery  for  John,  .        .        .009 

To  one  Quire  of  Paper,       .        .        .        .        012 

Feb.    18.     To  one  Erasmus,  i  |  8, 018 

To  Billey's  Wood  &  Candles  for  1761,         .      0160 
To  Lindley's  Horse  to  Billey,  14s.  p  dy,       .       o  12  11 

May     3.     To  i  Latin  Dictionary,  14  |  .         .         .    o  14    o 

1761.       To  I  Eutropius, o    4    o]J 

To  what  Mr.  WoodhuU  allows  to  be  charged,  25     8     9 

The  three  pupils,  whose  schooling  is  noticed  in  the 
above  accounts,  lived  to  old  age,  and  acliieved  success 
in  their  lives.  William  Woodhull,  after  his  collegiate 
course,  finished  1764,  became  a  Presbyterian  clergy- 


THE    OLD    PARSONAGE;     1748. 


The  Parsonage.  135 

man  and  settled  in  Morris  County,  where  he  died  1824. 
John  became  the  Rev.  Dr.  Woodhull,  of  Freehold, 
Monmouth  County,  N".  J.,  and  died  in  the  same  year 
with  his  brother  William. 

Matthias  Pierson,  who  was  a  native  of  the  Newark 
Mountains,  studied  medicine,  and  was  a  useful  and 
public  spirited  citizen  during  a  life  of  seventy-live 
years. 

THE  PAESONAGE. 

Upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Taylor,  it  became  necessary 
to  provide  a  home  for  his  successor.  The  first  pastor 
purchased  land  and  built  a  house  for  himself.  It 
occupied  the  site  now  knovvn  as  the  south-east  corner 
of  Main  Street  and  Oakwood  Avenue.  Two  months 
before  the  installation  of  his  successor,  and,  doubtless, 
in  the  prospect  of  that  event,  a  purchase  was  made 
(September  14,  1748,)  by  the  parish  of  four  acres  of 
land  for  the  erection  of  a  parsonage  house.  These 
acres  were  the  property  of  Matthew  Williams  (2),  on 
the  north  side  of  the  highway  to  the  Mountain,  and 
opposite  to  the  glebe  of  twenty  acres  purchased  in 
1719.  They  are  described  in  the  deed  as  "scittuate. 
Lying  and  Being  in  the  Bounds  and  Limmitts  of  New- 
ark, on  the  north  side  of  the  highway  that  leads  to  the 
Mountain,  near  the  House  once  the  Rev'nd  Mr.  Daniel 
Taylor' s  Late  of  Newark,  deceas*^  begining  at  a  corner 
where  another  Highway  sets  out,  Runing  northerdly 
from  the  Highway  affores'^  and  thence  along  the  said 
new  Highjray  four  chains,  thence  south-east  along  my 
own  Land  to  the  Land  of  John  Walls,  and  thence  along 
the  said  John  Wall's  Land  southardly  and  Bound  upon 
s'^  John  Wall  four  chains  Esterly  Runing  Surtherly  to 
the  Highway  and  Bound  Northerdly  upon  said  High- 
way Runing  to  where  it  Begun  Containg  four  acres  Be 


o 


6  History  of  the  Oranges. 


it  more  or  Less  :  To  Have  and  to  Hold  ,  .  .  unto 
them  the  said  Samuel  Harrison  Amos  Williams  Joseph 
Pierson  Daniel  Dod  Samuel  Cundict  Nathaniel  Harrison 

Ebenezar  Farrand  &  Timothy  Freeman  and  the  Society 
at  the  mountain  Assotiates  with  them,  and  to  their 
Heirs  and  Assigns  ....  to  Be  and  Remain  for 
the  use  and  Benifit  of  a  Dissenting  ministry  such  as 
shall  Be  called  to  that  work  by  the  Grantees  Before 
named  and  their  Associates  from  time  to  time  and  at 
all  times  forever  Hereafter."  The  deed  contains  the 
usual  full  covenants  and  warranty  against  all  incum- 
brances, "Lords'  Rents  for  the  future  only  Excepted." 
The  consideration  was  "four  Founds  per  acre  currant 
money  of  New  Jersey  at  eight  shillings  p""  ounce." 
It  will  be  noticed  that  the  habendum  and  tenendum 
clause  is  the  same  as  in  the  deed  for  the  glebe. 

This  purchase  on  "the highways"  extended  from  the 

north-east  corner  of  Park  Street,  towards  and  near  to 

Hillyer  Street.     The  corporation  of  Grace  (Episcopal) 

Church  now  owns  part  of  this  frontage.     Its  church 

y^  building  is  only  a 

/Piy7^o^^^n      j^/i^-^^e/rjr^Zyt^/Z-^^"^  feet  east  from 
C/  _^     O  -(-jjg  gji^g  Qjj  which 

the  Parsonage  was  built.  For  its  day,  it  was  an  elegant 
structure. 

In  its  architecture  and  appointments,  it  was  in 
advance  of  its  time ;  two  stories  front  and«*:ear,  four 
rooms  on  the  lirst  floor,  with  a  hall  in  the  centre, 
and  open  stairway  to  the  second  story,  built  of  sand- 
stone, hammer-dressed  and  laid  in  regular  courses.  It 
was  taken  down  in  1854,  having  stood  for  one  hun- 
dred and  six  years.     In  the  decay  of  even  its  last 


The  Parsonage.  137 

years,  it  gave  testimony  to  the  estimate  set  by  its 
builders  upon  the  worth  and  dignity  of  a  Christian 
minister. '  The  house  was  occupied  by  the  new  pastor 
in  about  a  year  after  his  installation,  and  continued  to 
be  his  home  for  thirteen  years,  and  until  he  was  called 
to  his  home  on  high.  It  was  the  dwelling-place  after- 
wards of  Mr.  Chapman  during  the  thirty-four  years  of 
his  ministry,  and  then  the  home  of  his  successor,  Dr. 
Hillyer,  from  his  settlement  (in  1801)  to  1817.  From 
this  latter  date  to  the  time  when  it  was  demolished, 
it  was  rented  to  tenants, — sometimes  to  those  of  a 
very  inferior  class. 

Samuel  Harrison  acted  as  the  treasurer  of  the  build- 
ing fund.  The  money  was  raised  by  subscription  from 
the  members  of  the  congregation  and  apx^arently  was 
not  based  upon  any  fixed  rate ;  the  contributions  be- 
ing dependent  on  the  interest  taken  in  the  work  more 
than  upon  the  means  of  the  subscriber. 

In  the  old  account-book  already  referred  to,  we  find 
a  page  devoted  to  the  building  fund,  and  as  the  items 
may  be  interesting  we  give  the  same  in  full. 

"An  a  Compt  of  what  money  I  have  Received  on  account  of  the 
pasanage  house  and  how  1  have  Desposed  of  it." 
Received  of 


David  Ward, 

3 

6 

Johnathan  Ward  of 

Jonathan  Shors, 

I 

9 

Decn  Sam"  Freeman, 

17 

4 

David  Williams, 

3 

6 

Received  o^Jonathan 

Thomas  Williams, 

3 

6 

Sargant  the  sum  of  3 

10 

0 

David  Baldwin, 

7 

o 

of  John  Dod,               19 

'7 

7 

Nathaniel  Crane, 

14 

o 

May  2,  1749, 

Noah  Crane, 

lO 

6 

of  Sam"  Cundict,           i 

8 

0 

Azariah  Crane, 

8 

8 

to  Jonathen  Sargent,      i 

8 

0 

Stephen  Dod, 

5 

3 

of  Joseph  Peck, 

8 

8 

John  Dod, 

7 

o 

of  John  Dod  by  Dec'n 

Elezer  Lanison, 

7 

o 

Freeman,                    2 

19 

0 

138  History  of  the  Oranges. 

Garshom  Williams,  4    4        Decon  Sami' Freman,     4  12     o 

Received  of                                       of  Bethuel  Pierson,  17     4 

Ebenezer  Farand,            140        of  John  Dod,  790 

Azariah  Grain,                       26        of  Thomes  Lamson,  17     4 

Ebenezer  Farand,                  36        of  Sami'  Wheler,  088 

Peter  Bostedo,                      9    o        of  Robert  Baldwen,  246 

William  Crane,                     08        of  Joseph  Jones,  i   12     o 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  account  we  can  decipher 
the  following  items  : 

paid  out  to  Caleb  Baldwin  for  shingles,      .         .         .  03     19    6 

for  nails  to  George  Harrison, 00    07     o 

to  Decon  Sami'  freeman, 01     04    o 

to  Pine  Bord  and  frate,            03     10    o 

to  George  Harrison  for  nails, 01     00  10 

to  Hinges 00     16    6 

Hinges, 00    06    o 

to  a  Lock,         .        .        . 00    02    6 

to  nals, 00    08    4 

paid  to  John  Cokrem, .  23    07     7 

paid  to  Stephen  Cortland, 00    03    6 

paid  to  John  Daves  for  Shels, 01     00    6 

May. 

paid  to  John  Cokrem, 02    03    4 

for  Glace  Oyle  Leed  and  Gug, 09     16    o 

Paid  to  George  Harrison  for  nals  six  pounds,        .         .  00    07     6 

to  one  pound  of  nals,           .         .        .        .        .         .  00    00  10 

Pad  to  frind  Lukes  for  one  bord,            .         .         .        .  00    02     o 

paid  John  Cokrem  by  Nathenel  Harrison,          .         .  07     09     i 

Paid  to  Jeremiah  Baldwin 00     17     o 

to  Baldwin,            00     14  10 

to  Baldwin .         .         .  01     12     6 

to  Jeremiah  Baldwin, 00     11     3 

to  Baldwin 00      8     3 

to  John  Cokrem, 01     15     o 


The  Second  Meeting- House.  139 

THE   SECOND   MEETING-HOUSE. 

Four  years  after  the  completion  of  the  parsonage, 
the  meeting-house,  which  had  been  in  use  for  more 
than  thirty  years,  gave  place  to  a  new  structure  of 
enlarged  dimensions,  and  of  a  more  convenient  and 
attractive  construction.  It  occupied  the  site  of  the 
first  building,  in  the  centre  of  the  highway,  the  west 
end  being  extended  to  about  the  easterly  line  of  Day 
Street.  From  a  book  of  accounts,  kept  mostly  by  Mr. 
Smith,  it  appears  that  it  was  built  by  subscription. 
The  total  number  of  subscribers  to  the  fund  was  one 
hundred  and  seventy-one.  Isaac  Harrison  was  cred- 
ited with  £7,  12s.  lOd.,  "collected  among  the  Dutch 
people."  These  were,  probably,  the  Dutch  in  the 
north  part  of  the  township,  settled  at  Stone  House 
Plains.  The  aggregate  amount  of  the  subscriptions 
was  £679,  19s.  lOd.,  equal  to  about  !^2,275,  proclama- 
tion money. 

The  book  of  accounts,  of  which  we  have  spoken,  was 
opened  in  the  spring  of  1753.  The  subscriptions  were 
charged,  and  the  credits  for  the  sums  pledged  were 
given  for  cash  and  materials  furnished,  or  labor  be- 
stowed, from  April  to  the  close  of  that  year.  There 
were  few  credits  given  in  1754.  Material,  labor  and 
supplies  are  exxDressed  as  days'  work,  split  stone,  rough 
stone,  hair,  wood,  sleepers,  dressing  shingles,  tending 
kiln,  cartage  of  shells  and  lime,  sugar,  rum  and  other 
store  stujffs.  ^  Some  of  the  credits  are  curious  reading 
in  these  later  days.  We  cite  a  few  of  them  :  Caleb 
Smith,  "given  by  himself,  3  Days'  whitewashing, 
10s.  6d  ;"  John  Dod,  ' '  a  gallon  of  Rum,  4s  ;"  William 
Grray,   "one  pound  of  Sugar,  7d ;"  Eleazer  Lamson, 


I.  Merchandise  was  kept  by  William  Crane,  William  Gray,  Ezekiel  Ward 
and  Joseph  Riggs. 


140 


History  of  the  Oranges. 


"6  quarts  of  Rum,  6s;"  Stephen  Morris,  "Flower, 
10s.  Id;  for  Beaf,  2£,  19s.  3d;"  aud  Betliuel  Pierson, 
"42  foot  2-incli  Plauk,  very  poor,  7s." 

The  subscribers  had  their  homes  in  all  the  Oranges, 
at  Bloomfield,  at  Cranetown  (now  Montclair,)  and  a 
few  at  Caldwell.  A  list  of  their  names  and  the  sums 
pledged  is  not  without  interest  and  historical  im- 
portance, as  perpetuating  the  memory  of  the  then 
members  of  the  parish,  the  relative  numbers  constitu- 
ting the  tribes,  and  their  comparative  ability  to  meet 
an  important  draft  upon  their  worldly  resources. 


Subscriptions  —  T15S. 


Allen,  Samuel, 

0 

s. 
12 

d. 

II 

Crane,  Nathi  Senr., 

II 

s. 
0 

d. 
0 

Baldwin,  Amos, 

5 

0 

0 

Crane,  Nathi  Jr., 

0 

3 

6 

Baldwin,  Aaron, 

3 

0 

0 

Crane,  Caleb, 

10 

0 

0 

Baldwin,  Robert, 

8 

0 

0 

Crane,  William, 

1 1 

0 

0 

Baldwin,  Joshua, 

6 

0 

0 

Crane,  Job, 

4 

0 

0 

Baldwin,  Cap'  Isra^ 

I 

0 

0 

Crane,  Garniel, 

I 

0 

0 

Baldwin,  David, 

3 

0 

0 

Crane,  Noah, 

8 

0 

0 

Baldwin,  Jeremiah, 

I 

I 

0 

Crane,  Steph" 

2 

0 

0 

Baldwin,  Daniel, 

9 

0 

0 

Crane,  Lewis, 

8 

0 

0 

Baldwin,  Israel, 

I 

0 

I 

Crane,  Jedidiah, 

0 

10 

0 

Baldwin,  Benjamin, 

3 

0 

0 

Crane,  Elihu, 

I 

0 

0 

Baldwin,  Moses, 

3 

0 

0 

Crane,  Ezekiel, 
The  tribes  of  Crane, 
Crowel,  Joseph, 

0 

3 

0 

The  tribes  of  Baldwii 
contributed 

1 

^43 

I 

I 

^56 
2 

16 
0 

6 
0 

Brown,  Job, 

10 

0 

0 

Crowel,  Saml' 

8 

0 

0 

Bowers,  Timothy, 

I 

10 

0 

Canfield,  Ebenezer, 

10 

0 

0 

Bowen,  Lemuel, 

I 

5 

0 

Bostedo,  Peter, 

0 

2 

2 

Cundit,  Samuel,  Jr., 

12 

0 

0 

Beach,  David, 

0 

lO 

0 

Cundit,  John, 

I 

19 

0 

Cundit,  Isaac, 

3 

0 

0 

Cundit,  Daniel, 

7 

0 

0 

Cundit,  Peter, 

4 

6 

6 

The  tribes  of  Condit,  ^28     5    6 


The  Second  Meeting- Hotise. 


L 

s, 

d. 

Clark,  Moses, 

2 

2 

0 

Clark,  Samuel, 

O 

lO 

0 

Camp,  Joseph, 

.1 

o 

0 

Campbell,  John, 

5 

I 

4 

Campbell,  Ja^  Jr., 

3 

i8 

0 

Dod,  Dan   Sr., 

5 

o 

0 

Dod,  Dan'  Jr., 

4 

lO 

0 

Dod,  Isaac, 

3 

o 

0 

Dod,  John, 

7 

o 

0 

Dod,  John, 

4 

o 

0 

Dod,  Sarai 

lO 

o 

0 

Dod,  Stephen, 

II 

o 

0 

Dod,  Nathi 

I 

o 

0 

Dod,  Silas, 

I 

o 

0 

Dod,  John, 

ol 

13 

9 

Dod,John,  the  carpnt' 

r.  3 

0 

0 

The  tribes  of  Dod,    ^1^50    3    9 


Davis,  Caleb, 

I 

0 

0 

Davis,  Jonath" 

I 

I 

8 

Devoe,  Richd 

0 

I 

6 

Devoe,  John, 

0 

10 

0 

Drure,  John, 

I 

10 

0 

Dickenson.widow  Mary,o 

8 

0 

Day,  Joseph, 

I 

10 

0 

Freeman,  Sam' 

10 

0 

0 

Freeman,  Sami  Jr.^ 

6 

0 

0 

Freeman,  Abel, 

2 

0 

0 

Freeman,  Benj" 

6 

0 

0 

Freeman,  Jedidiah, 

7 

0 

0 

Freeman,  Tho^ 

3 

0 

Q 

Freeman,  Timothy, 

4 

0 

0 

Tribes  of  Freeman,    ^38     o    o 


Farran,  Joseph, 
Farran,  Samuel, 

Gray,  William, 
Goden,  John, 
Gould,  Thomas, 
Gould,  John, 
Gardner,  John, 
Garner,  David, 
Gildersleeve,  Jno., 

Harrison,  Jno.  Sr., 
Harrison,  Sam'  Sr., 
Harrison,  Joseph, 
Harrison,  Richard, 
Harrison,  Nath' 
Harrison,  Amos, 
Harrison,  Sam' 
Harrison,  Matth^ 
Harrison,  John,  Jr., 
Harrison,  Stephen, 


141 

L  s.d. 

I    10     o 
200 


3     o 
I      o 

I  15 

3     o 

1  8 

o     5 

2  o 

5     S 


12 
II 

7 

8 

II 

4 


3  10 

3  10 

4  3 


Tribes  of  Harrison,    £6()    9     3 


Hays,  Thomas,  070 

Hand,  William,  200 

Johnson,  Joseph,  200 

Johnson,  Elipht  i     2     8 

Johnson,  Esq.,  10    o    o 

Jeams,  Thomas,  i    17  11 

Jones,  Samuel,  234 

Kilbourne,  Gershom,  200 

Lamson,  Dan'  230 

Lamson,  Thomas,  70    o 

Lamson,  Eleazar,  5  16     4 


142 


History  of  the  Oranges. 


£  s.  d. 

Lindsley,  Ebenezer,  10    o    o 

Lindsley,  Benjamin,  600 

Lindsley,  Amos,  i     o    o 

Lindsley,  Josiah,  2  11   11 

Tribes  of  Lindsley,    ^19  11   11 

Martin,  Jeremiah,  on     o 

Mun,  John,  7     5° 

Mun,  Joseph,  10    o    o 


£  s. 

Smith,  James,  7  o 

Smith,  John,  2  o 

Smith,  Joseph,  7  10 

Smith,  David,  7  o 

Smith,  Ebenezer,  6  o 

Smith,  William,  5  o 

Smith,  Isaac,  2  o 


Tribes  of  Smith,        _;i^35  10    o 


Morris,  Steph" 

5 

5 

5 

Sargeant,  Jonathan, 

0 

17 

6 

Shingleton, , 

0 

10 

0 

Nutman,  Ja^ 

0 

10 

0 

Stockman,  Jno., 

2 

2 

8 

Smith,  Revd  Caleb, 

5 

10 

6 

Ogden,  Abraham, 

4 

10 

0 

Squier,  Henry, 

0 

I 

9 

Ogden,  Nathi 

I 

2 

6 

Shores,  Jonathan, 

0 

3 

6 

Ogden,  Thomas, 

0 

9 

3 

Osborn,  Moses, 

I 

10 

0 

Tichenor,  David, 

4 

10 

0 

Osborn,  Timothy, 

I 

0 

0 

Taylor,  Gilbert, 

2 

0 

0 

Taylor,  Jacob, 

2 

0 

II 

Pierson,  Sam.  Sr., 

9 

0 

0 

Tomkins,  Jonath" 

5 

7 

0 

Pierson,  Joseph, 

10 

0 

0 

Pierson,  Bethuel, 

10 

0 

0 

Vincent,  Levi, 

I 

I 

0 

Pierson,  Sami  Jr., 

3 

0 

0 

Vincent,  John, 

I 

14 

5 

Pierson,  John, 

3 

0 

0 

Vincent,  Cornel* 

0 

4 

6 

Pierson,  Tho^ 

0 

10 

0 

— 



— 

Ward,  Daniel, 

4 

10 

0 

Tribes  of  Pierson, 

£3S 

10 

0 

Ward,  Isaac, 

5 

10 

0 

Ward,  Nathan, 

3 

0 

0 

Peck,  Joseph, 

10 

0 

0 

Ward,  Elihu, 

8 

0 

0 

Peck,  David, 

5 

0 

0 

Ward,  Abel, 

7 

0 

0 

Peck,  Jesse, 

3 

0 

0 

Ward,  Ezekiel, 

5 

5 

5 

Perry,  Arthur, 

3 

0 

0 



— 

Personett,  Geo., 

2 

0 

0 

Tribes  of  Ward, 

£?>2, 

5 

5 

Parson, 

0 

6 

0 

Riggs,  Joseph, 

7 

0 

0 

Riggs,  Daniel, 

9 

0 

0 

Riggs.  Simeon, 

2 

10 

0 

The  Second  Meeting-House. 


h: 


£ 

s. 

d. 

Summary. 

Wheeler,  Sam' 

6 

o 

o 

£    '• 

d. 

Wilcox, , 

o 

7 

o 

Tribes  of  Baldwin, 

43     I 

I 

" 

'    Crane, 

56  16 

6 

Williams,  Isaac, 

5 

9 

9 

" 

'    Cundit, 

28     0 

0 

Williams,  David, 

12 

5 

o 

« 

'    Dod, 

50     3 

9 

Williams,  Matthew, 

9 

o 

6 

" 

'    Freeman, 

38     0 

0 

Williams,  Joseph, 

3 

o 

o 

■' 

'    Harrison, 

69    9 

3 

Williams,  Daniel, 

5 

4 

2 

" 

'    Lindsley, 

19  II 

II 

Williams,  Sami 

4 

5 

O 

" 

'    Pierson, 

35  10 

0 

Williams,  Amos,  Jr., 

I 

17 

o 

" 

'    Smith, 

35   10 

0 

Williams,  Gershom, 

o 

8 

o 

" 

'    Ward, 

33     5 

5 

Williams,  David, 

6 

9 

5 

" 

'    Williams, 

58     6 

8 

Williams,  Amos,  Sr., 

9 
o 

12 

ID 

Williams,  Thomas, 

12 

6 

l^^7  14 

7 

Williams,  Timothy, 

o 

2 

6 

All  others. 

The  Dutch  people, 

204  12 
7  12 

5 

Tribes  of  Williams. 

rcs 

6 

8 

10 

Williamson,  Wn^  300 

Wood,  James,  200 


Total, 


';^679  19  10 


Young,  Jonathan, 
Young,  Robert, 


The  new  house  of  worship,  completed  and  dedicated 

to  its  sacred  uses  in  the  last  days  of  the  year  175|,  was 

/^  /^        /y  ^  stone  structure, 

K^^^  ^      J^S'^hft  an of  the  same  mate- 

r  rial  as  that  of  the 

parsonage  house,  and  laid  in  the  same  style  of  ma- 
sonry.    Those   of  the  parish,    "regularly  chosen   to 
x>0  ^y^         CZy^  O       manage  the  affair 

^Ttj/^yZ>^^:^  o^W^  of  the  building," 
^-*^   -^     -^  were  Samuel  Har- 

rison, Samuel  Freeman,  Joseph  Harrison,  Stephen 
Dod,  David  Williams,  Samuel  Condit,  William  Crane, 
Joseph  Riggs.  Matthew  Williams,  who  was  a  mason, 
had  the  superintendence  of  the  mason  work.     Moses 


144  History  of  the  Oranges. 

Baldwin  liad  the  charge  of  the  carpenter  work.  A  writ- 
ten contract  between  the  latter  and  the  committee  is  pre- 
served among  the  manuscripts  of  the  New  Jersey  His- 
torical Society.  The  "agreement"  provides  that  he 
shall  perfectly  finish  the  house,  excex^ting  the  masonry, 
^  ^  ^  after  the  model 

^I'Ctl  CC  7?t    "P^^^^^^  K^  ^^  *^^®  meeting- 
\j!!^  house  in  New- 

ark, finding  all  the  materials,  "such  as  timbers,  boards, 
sleepers,  glass,  oils  and  paint,  nails,  hinges,  locks, 
latches,  bolts,  with  all  other  kinds  of  materials  neces- 
sary for  finishing"  the  same. 

The  details  of  this  contract,  supplemented  by  the 
recollections  of  many  who  have  worshiped  within  its 
walls,  furnish  a  good  idea  of  the  building  and  its 
appointments.  Standing  as  it  did  lengthwise  with  the 
street,  its  south  broadside  was  its  front,  with  the  broad 
entrance  door  in  the  centre.  Opposite  to  this  door  was 
the  pulj)it,  approached  by  a  broad  aisle  with  a  double 
row  of  pews  on  each  side,  and  narrow  aisles  on  the 
ends  of  the  room.  One  pew  on  each  side  of  the  pulpit, 
two  on  the  right,  and  two  on  the  left  fronting  the  pul- 
pit, all  with  doors  and  hinges,  and  somewhat  ele- 
vated above  the 
seats,  but  upon 
^t>r^-        V  ^^  floor,   were 

''^^^  provided  for  of- 

ficials in  the  congregation.  In  the  pulpit  was  the 
desk  taken  from  the  old  building,  remodeled  and 
adapted  for  its  new  relations.  A  seat,  made  of  wood, 
was  built  against  the  wall  for  the  minister  and  his 
associates.  Four  wooden  pegs  on  the  wall  above  gave 
their  support  to  the  clerical  hats.  After  the  Revolu- 
tion this  space  back  of  the  i)ulpit  was  occupied  by  a 
large  gilt  eagle.     The  arched  wall  of  the  room,  and  the 


The  Parson  in  the  Parsonage.         145 

ends  of  the  building  above  the  plate  and  under  the 
galleries,  were  ceiled  with  white  wood  boards,  and 
"painted  a  light  sky  color." 

THE  PARSOTT   IN   THE   PARSONAGE. 

With  a  dwelling  built  for  the  comfort  of  his  house- 
hold, and  with  a  new  house  of  worship  convenient  for 
the  needs  of  his  parish,  as  well  as  in  accord  with  the 
improving  methods  of  living,  Mr.  Smith  was  equipped 
anew  for  his  pastoral  work.  There  was  very  much  at 
this  period  to  invite  his  attention  and  his  active  agency 
in  public  affairs  ;  but  there  is  not  an  atom  of  evidence 
that, he  allowed  himself  to  be  drawn  aside  from  bis 
labors  in  promoting  the  cause  of  education,  the  good 
of  the  church  at  large,  and  the  spiritual  welfare  of  his 
own  people.  There  is  not  an  allusion  in  his  diary  to  a 
single  public  event ;  nor  does  his  biography,  published 
after  his  death,  make  note  of  any. 

In  August,  1757,  he  was  called  to  mourn  the  loss  of 
his  wife  by  death,  after  a  marriage  union  of  nine 
years.  "She  is  described,"  says  Hatfield  in  his  His- 
tory of  Elizabeth  town,  "as  superior  to  most  of  her 
sex  in  strength  of  genius ;  her  intellectual  qualities 
were  quick  and  penetrating.  She  had  a  thirst  for 
knowledge,  and  was  greatly  delighted  in  reading." 
An  agreeable  companion,  she  was  admired  and  loved 
by  all.  She  died  after  a  year  of  suffering,  leaving  three 
daughters. 

The  pastor,  thus  bereaved,  employed  a  house-keeper 
who  served  his  household   for  two  years,  ^  when,  in 

I.  On  page  65  of  the  frequently-quoted  account-book  is  entered: — 
"  Phebf.  Richards,  IVidoiu ;  Nov.  i,  1757  ;  Then  you  came  to  keep  my 
house,  and  kept  it  to  April  i,  1758,  after  the  rate  of  3s.  pr  Weeke."  She 
remained  with  him  until  the  spring  of  1759  ;  assisted  by  a  maid  servant. 
The  wages  of  the  latter  woman  were  4s.  6d.  per  week  ;  and  she  was  charged, 
on  one  occasion,  with  "  Callico  for  a  Gown,  5  Yards  at  5s."  Some  of  our 
lady  readers  may  think  that  the  smallness  of  the  "  pattern  "  was  in  propor- 
tion to  the  bigness  of  the  price. 


10 


146  History  of  the    Oranges. 

October,  1759,  lie  married  Rebecca,  daughter  of  Major 
Isaac  Foote,  of  Branford,  Conn.  On  the  8th  of  that 
month,  he  credits  Isaac  Cundict  with  "Carting  my 
Things  to  Newark  when  going  to  New  England,  2s, 
6d ;"  and,  on  November  5th,  with  "Carting  up  my 
Wife's  Things  from  Newark,  out  of  Griffin's  Vessel, 
5s,  6d."  That  she  had  a  liberal  allowance  of  this 
world' s  goods  is  apparent  from  the  fact  that,  after  his 
death,  they  were  appraised  at  £89,  Is,  lOd,  In  the 
account  with  Matthias  Pierson,  who  was  twenty -five 
years  old,  although  then  attending  Mr.  Smith's  school, 
(page  132,)  is  the  following  curious  entry:  "1759, 
Oct.  30;  cash  had  of  you  in  our  voyage,  lis,  7d." 
This  suggests  that  Mr.  Pierson  accompanied  him  on 
this  wedding-excursion ;  and  perhaps  that  he  served 
as  "best  man"  at  the  ceremony. 

Some  of  the  house-keeping  items,  in  the  account- 
book,  are  interesting,  and  of  them  we  select  a  few : 
"A  Hooke  to  roast  meat.  Is,  6d ;" — "Cutting  wood 
1  Day  at  the  Door,  2s,  6d  ;" — "helping  your  Bro''  Isaac 
Kill  my  Hogs,  2s,  6d  ;"— "  1  Bushel  of  Wheat  Flower, 
6s  ;"— "Cyder  Spirits,  3  Gallons,  10s,  6d  ;"— "1  Bar- 
rel of  Cyder,  9s;"— "Tobacco,  2s,  6d  ;"—" Pulling 
Flax,  2s,  8d  ;"— "Whitening  84  Yards  Cloth,  8s,  6d;" 
"Weaving  two  Coverlits,  £1." 

In  1761,  Mr.  Smith  made  an  investment  in  human 
chattels,  and  the  record  of  the  transaction  shows  that 
he  ' '  discounted ' '  the  day  of  payment : 

1 761.     Credt-  Hannah  Bayne,  Wid'^- 

March  31.         This  Day  Hagar  &  Lattice  her  child  came  to 
our  House  for  whom  I  am  to  pay  £70,  o,  o, 
Money  at  Eight  Shillings  pr  ounce,  at  the      £     s.    d. 
End  of  one  year  from  s^  day.  70    o    o 

1 761.      Debtr.  

August  14.         Then  paid  Mrs.   Dickingson  on  the  Account 

of  Hagar  one  Dollar. 
Sep.  15.  Then    I    paid    Mrs.    Dickinson   the  Sum  of 

1761.  £68,    13,    7,   for  Hagar  and  her  child,  for 

which  I  have  her  Receipt  in  full  as  the  Pay- 
ment was  made  before  the  year  was  up,  68  13     7 


lusrMu.i 


h  ■Cs 


The  Parson  in  the  Parsonage.        i  47 

In  October,  1762, — it  being  three  years  after  this 
second  marriage,  Mr.'  Smith  was  taken  sick  with  dys- 
entery, 1  and  on  the  22d  of  the  same  month  he  ceased 
from  his  earthly  labors,  at  the  age  of  thirty-eight  years 
and  ten  months,  and  after  a  pastorate  of  fourteen 
years.  His  remains  lie  in  the  old  parish  burial  place. 
His  tomb  is  built  of  freestone  covered  by  a  large  hor- 
izontal slab,  bearing  the  following  memorial : 

" 1764. 

"  This  Stone  we  erect  as  a  monumental  token  of  love  &  grati- 
tude to  our  late  Pastor,  the  Rev^  Caleb  Smith,  who  died  Ocf  22^, 
1762,  in  ye  39  yr  of  his  age. 

"  Beneath  this  tomb  the  precious  reliques  lie 
of  one  too  great  to  live  but  not  to  die''' 
indu'd  by  nature  with  superior  parts 
to  swim  in  science  &  to  scan  the  arts 
to  soar  aloft  inflam'd  with  sacred  love 
to  know  admire  &  serve  the  God  above. 
Gifted  to  sound  the  thundring  law's  alarm 
the  smiles  of  virtue  &  the  gospels  charms 
a  faithful  Watchman  studious  to  discharge 
th'  important  duties  of  his  weighty  charge. 
To  say  the  whole  &  sound  the  highest  fame 
He  liv'd  a  Christian  &  he  di'd  the  same 
A  man  so  useful,  from  his  People  rent 
his  babes  the  Colleg  &  the  Church  lament." 

He  left  him  surviving,  his  widow  and  four  children ; 
three  by  the  first  marriage,  and  one  by  the  second. 

The  settlement  of  his  estate  was  made  chiefly  by 
Joseph  Riggs,  one  of  the  executors  of  the  will.  He 
charged  the  widow  with  £1  for  "one  grate  Bibel ;" 
and  3s.  for  "1  candel- stick ;"  and  £4  for  a  "Larg 
Looking  glas ;"  and  8s.  9d.  for  "7  wine  glases  ;"  and 


I.  Dysentery  in  a  malignant  form  was  epidemic  in  New  Jersey  and  in  the 
Provinces,  at  times,  in  the  middle  and  latter  parts  of  the  last  century.  We 
have  no  evidence  that  it  was  prevalent  at  the  time  of  Mr.  Smith's  death.  In 
that  year,  1763,  "in  America,  the  heat  and  drought  exceeded  what  was  ever 
before  known.  From  June  to  September  22d,  there  was  scarcely  a  drop  of 
rain.  Almost  all  the  springs  were  exhausted,  and  the  distress  occasioned  by 
the  want  of  water  was  extreme.  The  forest  trees  appeared  as  if  scorched. 
(  Webster  on  Pestilence.') 


148  History  of  the  Oranges. 

£1,  15s.  6cl.  for  "By  Mr.  Roe  [her^ second  husband,] 
bought  at  the  V^andue  in  Books."  The  goods  and 
money  given  to  her  by  the  will  amounted  to  £102,  8s. 
3d  ;  and  she  was  allowed £37,  2s.  7d.  for  "her  third  of 
the  Land  sold  by  Vandue." 

Mr.  Riggs  charged,  in  his  own  favor — 

"two  Days  to  Reckon  with  peopel o  14    o 

"  to  my  Self  tending  the  Vandue 070 

"to  Seling  and  Colecting  at  the  Vandue  to  the  value  of 

22,  II,  II — my  feas 126 

"  Paid  John  Dod  foi  Righting  at  Vandue,        ...  98 

"to4galonsof  Rum  for  Vandue,         .        .         .         .         100 

"  to  2  lb  of  Sugar  @  lod  per  lb., 14 

''to  half  pound  of  Candels, 7 

"  to  Sundry  Servises  &  Entertaining  the  Exectre      .         .     3  10    o 
'■  Cash  to  Ezekiel  Johnson  for  Coffin  furniture,  .  i     9 

"  Cash  to  Mrs  Dugdal  for  Betsey's  morning  suite,  .1     64" 

In  about  a  year  after  the  decease  of  Mr.  Smith,  the 
widow  married  the  Rev.  Azel  Roe,  a  clergyman  who 


had  studied  theology  with  Mr.  Smith.  He  settled  in 
Woodbridge,  New  Jersey,  where  he  preached  till  his 
death  in  1815. 1 


I.  Azel  Roe  was  twenty-one  years  of  age  when  he  became  a  member  of 
the  Mountain  Society.  After  graduating  at  Princeton  in  1756,  he  came  to 
the  Mountain  to  study  theology  with  Mr.  Smith.  He  was  a  native  of  St. 
George's  Manor,  Long  Island,  born  February  20,  1738,  and  of  the  same 
township  in  which  his  theological  teacher  was  born.  He  was  licensed  to 
preach  by  the  New  York  Presbytery  in  1759,  the  same  year  in  which  he 
united  with  the  church,  and  was  ordained  by  the  same  body,  sine  titulo,  in 
1762.  In  September,  1763,  he  married  the  widow  of  Mr.  Smith,  and  in  the 
same  autumn  was  settled  in  Woodbridge,  N.  J.,  where  he  died  in  1815,  aged 
77,  after  an  uninterrupted  pastorate  of  52  years.     Mrs.  Roe  died  in  1794. 

He  became  one  of  the  most  useful  and  honored  ministers  of  his  day,  living 


This  Store  we  ereaas  a 
rnomtinental  token  of  love  ^ 
graatude  to  our  late  Paftor^  llhl 
W*'  Caleb  Smith  who  died      1 
0^.^22^762  m  §39  Y^ofliisa§e 

Benea-ch  this  tomb  t}jepreciou5  relqaes"' 
of  om  too  great  to  1 1  ve«  buc  not  to  d  ie 
mdu  <d  Jby  namm  with  fiperior  parts 
to  iwimin Eiences^ co fcan  ihe  arts 

to  loar  aloft  inflamt!  wich  facrecl  love 
to  k  now  aJmi  res-  ier ye  tre  Goi  a bove 
Gifteoi  to  found  tHe  tbuncl  r  i  ng  kws  A  lar 
ihe  fniiles  of  virtue^the  g^ipets  charms 

afaithful  V^tchman  ftudiousto  cliffi 
th  important  ctuties  of  his  weighty  th^r 
To  lay  the  -^hole^loimcl  thehi^heft  fani 
heliVciaChTiitian-s^hecl'idthe  fame 
A  man  fo  ufelal  from  his  People  rent 
^isbabesthe  Golle^  &tbe  Church  laiin^l 


TOMB    OF    REV.  CALEB    SMITH;     1702. 


Church  Members.  149 

Apollos,  the  son  of  Mr.  Smith  by  the  second  marriage, 
upon  reaching  manhood,  went  south,  and  was  never 
heard  of  afterwards  by  his  Orange  friends.  ^ 

A  manuscript  church  record  of  Rev.  Caleb  Smith, 
from  1756  to  the  time  of  his  death,  together  with  a 
similar  record  by  Rev.  Jedidiah  Chapman,  from  the 
beginning  of  his  pastorate  to  1784,  were  found  among 
the  old  manuscripts  of  Dr.  William  Pierson,  deceased, 
and  in  1887  were  kindly  put  by  his  son,  Dr.  William 
Pierson,  in  the  possession  of  this  writer. 

The  records  are  invaluable  to  those  searching  for  the 
habitancy  and  genealogy  of  the  earlier  Mountain  set- 
tlers. 

A  careful  analysis  of  Mr.  Smith's  record  furnishes 
a  supplement  to  the  heretofore  unknown  history  of 
the  Mountain  Society. 

Members  in  Communion  of  the   Mountain  Society,  prior 

TO  1756. 

Burnet,  Silas.  Crane,  William. 

Baldwin,  Amos.  Crane,  Noah. 

Baldwin,  Aaron.  Crane,  Caleb, 

Baldwin,  Robert.  Campbell,  Benjamin. 

Baldwin,  Benjamin.  Crane  Lewis,  and  wife. 

Crowel,  Recompence. 

Campbell,  John.  Croel,  Joseph. 

Crane,  Stephen.  Canfield,  Ebenezer. 


a  life  of  distinction  in  the  church.  The  degree  of  D.D.  was  conferred  upon 
him  by  Yale  College.  He  was  a  trustee  of  Princeton  College  ;  a  member 
of  the  first  General  Assembly  and  its  moderator  in  1802.  During  the 
Revolution  he  was  in  the  service  ;  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  enemy  and 
confined  in  the  old  Sugar  House.  Barely  escaping  from  a  fall  into  a  small 
stream  which  his  company  was  obliged  to  ford,  the  commanding  officer 
politely  offered  to  carry  him  upon  his  back.  The  offer  was  accepted,  and 
the  suggestion  of  the  parson  that  the  bearer  was  priest-ridden  now,  if  he  had 
never  been  before,  so  convulsed  the  officer  with  laughter  that  he  was  barely 
able  to  sustain  his  burden.     {Spr ague's  Annals,  Vol.  IH.,  233.) 

I.   Hoyt's  History  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Orange,  p.  109. 


I50 


History  of  the  Oranges. 


Cundict,  Daniel 

Cundict,  David. 

Cundict,  Joanna,  w,  of  David. 

Cundit,  Samuel,  Jr. 

Dod,  John  Jr.  and  wife. 

Dod,  Isaac. 

Dod,  Thomas. 

Davies,  Timothy  and  wife. 

Freeman,  Thomas  and  wife. 
Freeman,  Benjamin, 
Freeman,  John, 
Freeman,  Timothy  and  wife. 

Gray,  William  and  wife. 
Gould,  John,  Jr. 

Hedden,  Eleazer,  wife  of. 
Hedden,  John. 
Hedden,'John,  Jr. 
Hand,  William. 
Hedden,  Jos.  wife  of. 
Harrison,  Capt.  Amos. 
Harrison,  David,  wife  of. 
Harrison,  Matthew  and  wife. 

Marten,  Jeremiah,  wife  of. 
Mun,  Joseph,  wife  of. 
Mun,  Benjamin. 


Ogden,  Nathii  Eunice,  wife  of. 

Perry,  Arthur, 

Pierson,  Bethuel. 

Pierson,  Samuel,  Jr.,  wife  of. 

Pierson,  Elihu,  and  wife  of. 

Peck,  John. 

Peck,  Jesse  and  wile. 

Riggs,  Joseph. 

Smith,  John. 

Tompkins,  Jonathan. 
Taylor,  Jacob. 
Taylor,  Rachael,  his  wife, 
Tompkins,  — ,  widow  of. 

Ward,  Ezekiel. 

Ward,  Abel. 

Williams,  Isaac. 

Williams,  Gershom,  wife  of. 

Williams,  Timothy,  and  wife. 

Williams,  Lieut.  David. 

Young,  Jonathan. 


Entered  into  Covenant,  after  1756. 


May 

8, 

1757. 

Mary,  wife  of  Silas  Burnet. 

June 

II, 

1758. 

Hall,  Mary. 

July 

9. 

1758. 

Joseph  Riggs,  wife  of. 

Jan. 

22, 

1759- 

Ward,  John. 

Aug. 

17. 

1759- 

Williams,  Capt.  Matthew  and  wife. 

Aug. 

17. 

1759- 

Roe,  Azel. 

Harrison,  Joannna,  wife  of  Steph"  Harrison, 

June 

13. 

1760. 

Parsonate,  George  and  wife. 

April 

II, 

1762. 

Harrison,  Sami.  Senr. 

June 

20, 

1762. 

Harrison,  David. 

Aug. 

8, 

1762. 

Young,  Kezia,  daugh.  of  Jonathan. 

Church  Members.  1 5 1 

Baptisms  from  1756  to  1762.    By  Caleb  Smith. 

Cyrus,  son  of  Bethuel  Pierson. 
David,  son  of  Joseph  Croel. 
Moses,  son  of  Ezekiel  Ward. 
John,  son  of  Joseph  Mun. 
Sarah,  daugh.  of  Amos  Baldwin. 
John,  son  of  widow  John  Tompkins. 
Zadoc,  son  of  John  Hedden,  Jr. 
Mary,  daugh.  of  Daniel  Cundict. 
Bethuel,  son  of  Benj"  Mun. 


Jemima,  daugh.  Amos  Harrison. 

Sarah,  daugh.  Ebenezer  Canfield. 

Jairus,  son  of  Gershom  Williams. 

Edmund,  son  of  Silas  and  Mary  Burnet. 

A  child  of  William  Hand. 

Mary,  wife  of  David  Baldwin  and  three  of  her 

children,  Joseph,  Rhoda,  and  Hulda. 

Sarah,  daugh.  of  Christopher 

A  son  of  Arthur  Perry. 

Moses,  son  of  Timothy  Freeman. 

Nathaniel,  son  of  Noah  Crane. 

Enos,  son  of  Thomas  Dod. 

Aaron,  son  of  Aaron  Baldwin. 

Katharine,  daugh.  of  John  Campbell. 

Abijah,  son  of  Isaac  Dod. 

Jemima,  daugh.  of  Silas  Burnet. 

David,  son  of Coleman. 

Eleazer,  son  of  \  t^,  „  p,^  ,  r^ 
c  u  J  x.  ct  John  Uod,  r. 
Sarah,  daugh.  of  f  '  -^ 

May       7.     Phebe,  daugh.  of  Eleazer  Hedden, 

Thomas,  son  of  Jeremiah  Martin. 

May     14.     Elizabeth,  daugh.  of  Joseph  Hedden. 

May     21.    John,  son  of  Jacob  and  Rachael  Taylor. 

May     21.     Harry,  servant   boy  of   Lieut.    David  Williams. 
His  master  engaged  for  his  Christian  education. 

June     II.     Martha,  daugh.  of  Stephen  Crane. 

July       9.     Abijah,  \ 

Aaron,     I   children  of  Matthew  Harrison. 

Amos, 

Mary,     J 


1756. 

Aug.    22. 

Sept.      5. 

Sept.    19. 

Nov.      7. 

1857. 

Jan. 

Jan. 

Mar.      6. 

Mar.      6. 

April   24. 

April   24. 

April    24. 

April    24. 

May       8. 

May      8. 

June     19. 

Oct.       9. 

Nov.      6. 

Nov.    27. 

Dec.      4. 

Dec.     II. 

1758. 

Feb.      5. 

Feb.    25. 

Feb.      5. 

March  4. 

March   4. 

Apl.     16. 

152  History  of  the  Oranges. 

Aug.      3.    Benjamin  Campbell   and  his   two   sons,    Moses 
and  Aaron. 

Charles,  son  of  Lewis  Crane. 

Jonathan,  son  of  Abel  Ward. 

Sarah,  daugh.  of  Joseph  Mun. 

Abigail,  daugh.  of  Benj.  Mun. 

John,  son  of  Eleakim  Crane. 

Adonijah,  son  of  Matthew  Harrison. 

Sarah,  daugh.  of  Benjamin  Baldwin. 

1759.   Feb.     25.     Amos,  son  of  Daniel  Cundict. 

Isaac,  son  of  Ezekiel  Ward. 

Jane,  daugh.  of  Arthur  Perry. 

Joseph,  son  of  Bethuel  Pierson. 

Aaron,  son  of  Isaac  Williams. 

Sarah,  daugh.  of  Samuel  Pierson,  Jr. 

Comfort,  daugh.  of  John  Hedden. 

A  son  of  Silas  Burnet. 

Esther,  daugh.  of  Amos  Baldwin. 

Phebe,  daugh.  of  Jonathan  Tompkins. 

L^dJa^'  [  Daughrsof  David  and  Joanna  Cundict. 
Experience,  daugh.  of  Joseph  Riggs, 

Benjamin,  1 
Elizabeth,       0^     1 
John,  Stockman. 

William,      J 

[Their  parents  being  dead,  Benj.  Freeman, 
their  God-father,  solemnly  engaged  for  their 
Christian  education,] 

Aug.      5.     Joseph,  son  of  John  Peck. 

Aug. '  19.    J'T^^^'  ^^"S^-   [  of  Jesse  Peck. 
^       ^     and  Moses,  son    f       ^ 

Aug.  19.  Uzal,  son  of  John  Dod,  Jr. 

Aug.  19.  Jedidiah,  son  of  John  Freeman. 

Aug.  19.  A  child  (sex  forgotten),  of  Gershom  Williams. 

Sept.  2.         af"ue  ,  (  g^j^g  ^£  Thomas  Freeman. 

Jonas,      1 
Oct.    7.       ^^^        \  sons  of  Timothy  Williams. 

Robert,    J 
Oct.       7.     Cornelius,  son  of  Timothy  Davies. 
Nov.    II.    Abigail,  daugh.  of  Isaac  Dod. 


Aug. 

27. 

Sept. 

17- 

Oct. 

I. 

Nov. 

IP- 

Dec. 

S' 

Dec. 

24. 

Dec. 

31- 

Feb. 

25. 

Feb. 

25. 

Mar. 

II. 

Mar. 

18. 

Mar. 

18. 

Mar. 

18. 

May 

6. 

May 

6. 

May 

13- 

May 

30- 

June 

24. 

July 

29. 

Aug. 

5- 

Sermon  by  Rev.   Caleb  Smith.  153 

1760.    Jan.  6.  Ruth,  daugh.  of  Capt.  Amos  Harrison. 

Feb.  3.  Hannah,  daugh.  of  Thomas  Freeman. 

Feb.  24.  Lydia,  daugh.  of  Jeremiah  Marten. 

Mar.  23.  Susannah,  daugh.  of  Aaron  Baldwin. 

May  II,  Lmus,  son  of  Robert  Baldwin. 

May  II.  Lois,  daugh.  of  Stephen  Crane. 

May  II.  Stephen,  son  of  John  Peck. 

May  25.  Mary,  daugh.  of  Timothy  Williams. 

June  13.      Nathaniel,  [  sons  of  George  Parsonate. 
June     15.     Charity,  daugh.  of  John  Campbell. 
June    22.    John,  son  of  Robert  McEndow. 
July       6.     Zadoc,  son  of  William  Crane. 

Moses,  son  of  Samuel  Cundit,  Jr. 
1762.   Mar.     14.    Job,  son  of  Jonathan  Tompkins, 
April     4.     Hannah,  daugh.  of  Elihu  Pierson, 
April     4.     Nehemiah,  son  of  Noah  Crane. 
April    II.     Eleazer,  son  of  Robert  Baldwin. 
May      9.    Joanna,  daugh.  of  Isaac  Dod.  . 

May       9.     Isaac,  son  of  Timothy 

June     13.     Child   (name   and   sex   forgotten,)    ot    Stephen 
Crane. 

June  20.  Susanna  [  children  of  David  Harrison. 

June    20.  Sarah,  daugh.  of  John  Gould,  Jr. 

June    25.  Caleb,  son  of  Isaac  Williams. 

Aug.    15.  Katharine,  daugh.  of  Recompence  Crowel. 

Aug.    29.  Enos,  son  of  Samuel  Pierson,  Jr. 

Sept.    26.  Rebecca,  daugh.  of  John  Campbell, 

A   SERMON  BY  EEV.  CALEB  SMITH  ;   NEWARK-MOUNT^- 

AUG-^  9,  1760. 

Heb.  3  :  19.     So  we  see,  that  they  would  not  enter  in  because  of  Unbelief. 

We  may  say  of  Unbelief  what  the  Daughters  of  Israel  said  of 
David  after  the  Slaughter  of  the  Philistines,  that  other  Sins  slay 
their  Thousands,  but  this  slays  its  ten  Thousands;  some  perish  by 
their  Covetousness,  others  by  their  Intemperance,  we  shall  see  one 
ruining  himself  by  Profaneness,  and  another  by  Dishonesty,  but 
vast  Multitudes  are  daily  perishing  thro'  the  power  of  Unbelief 


154  History  of  the  Oranges. 

and  indeed  by  whatever  other  Sins  the  Children  of  Men  shut  them- 
selves out  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  Unbelief  hath  a  principal 
Hand  in  their  Undoing;  Thus  with  Respect  to  the  Israelites  in  the 
Wilderness,  Unbelief  was  at  the  bottom  of  their  Idolatry. 

Idolatry,  Rebellion,  Backsliding,  their  Lusting,  Fornication 
with  the  Moabitish  women,  their  Murmuring  and  other  Crimes, 
they  believed  not  the  word  of  God,  and  distrusted  his  Power, 
Faithfulness  and  Goodness,  which  made  way  for  their  falling  into 
those  particular  Sins,  for  which  they  were  denied  an  Entranse  into 
the  Land  of  Promise,  and  were  justly  doomed  to  waste  away  in 
the  Wilderness.  Our  Text  has  a  particular  Respect  to  the  Case  of 
this  People,  and  their  Exclusion  from  the  Land  of  Canaan,  for 
their  Unbelief;  this  Sin  is  mentioned  as  the  chief  Barr  in  the  way 
of  their  Entranse  into  that  good  Land,  which  God  some  hundred 
years  before  had  promised  to  the  illustrious  Patriarchs,  Abraham, 
Isaac  and  Jacob  for  an  Inheritance  to  their  Posterity.  God  failed 
not  of  his  promise,  tho'  as  to  the  Adults  who  came  out  of  Egypt 
their  carcasses  fell  in  the  Wilderness,  Jehovah  shewed  them  that 
there  was  really  in  him  no  Breach  of  Promise.  For  altho'  he  did 
not  accomplish  to  their  evil  Generation  the  good  Things  he  had 
promised  their  Fathers,  yet  he  made  good  his  faithful  word  to  the 
next  generation,  who  enter  the  promised  Land  under  Joshua,  who 
was  a  very  eminent  Type  of  Christ,  being  also  called  by  the  same 
Name,  Joshua  in  the  hebrew  Language  being  rendered  Jesus  in  the 
Greek.  Now  as  we  see  from  the  Scripture  History,  that  that  gen- 
eration of  Israelites  who  came  out  of  Egypt,  being  arrived  to  adult 
Age  could  not  enter  into  Canaan  because  of  their  Unbelief,  so 
neither  can  we  enter  the  celestial  Canaan,  if  we  continue  under 
the  Power  of  Unbelief. 

I  would  propose  as  God  shall  afford  me  help. 

1.  To  describe  the  Nature  of  Unbelief. 

2.  Consider  its  peculiar  Malignancy. 

3.  Shew  why  such  as  are  under  the  power  of  it  cannot  enter 
into  the  Kingdom  of  God,  or  be  admitted  into  that  blessed  and 
glorious  Rest  which  remains  for  his  believing  People. 

I  am  in  the  first  Place  to  describe  the  Nature  of  Unbelief. 


Sermon  by  Rev.   Caleb  Smith.  155 

Unbelief  simply  considered  means  a  not  giving  Credit  to  the 
Word  or  Testimony  of  Another,  and  when  it  respects  the  Testi- 
mony of  Men,  it  may  be  either  a  right  or  wrong  according  as  we 
have  grounds  for  believing  or  not  believing,  but  when  this  Word  is 
used  in  the  Matters  of  Religion,  it  commonly  imports  a  refusing 
to  give  Credit  to  the  Testimony  of  God,  when  we  have  sufficient 
Evidence  to  convince  a  reasonable  creature  that  the  Testimony  is 
God's.  If  we  do  not  yield  our  Assent  or  give  Credit  to  what  God 
himself  hath  testified,  we  are  chargeable  with  the  Sin  of  Unbelief 
Human  Faith  is  the  believing,  &c.  &c. 

I.  Unbelief  consists  in  not  believing  God  to  be  such  a  Being  as 
he  is.  God  speaks  to  us  in  his  Works,  for  the  Invisible  Things  &c. 
St  Paul  informs  us  that  the  Law  of  God,  and  such  as  disobey  that 
Law  do  as  really  disobey  God  himself  as  those  who  violate  &c.  In 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebs  it  is  said.  That  thro'  Faith  we  understand 
that  the  Worlds  were  framed  &c.  And  without  Faith  it  is  im- 
possible to  please. 

%\  2.  Unbelief  consists  in  not  believing  that  Revelation  which 
God  has  made  of  himself,  and  of  his  Mind  and  Will  in  his  Word. 
If  the  word  of  God  which  comes  to  us  in  the  written  Scriptures, 
or  by  the  Preaching  of  such  as  are  inspired  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 
is  not  mingled  with  Faith  iti  those  who  hear  it,  they  are  chargeable 
with  rejecting  the  Counsel  of  God  &c.  Noah  was  a  preacher  of 
Righteousness.  So  was  Lot  to  the  Men  of  Sodom  &c.  Isaiah 
Jeremiah  and  others,  &c.     We  have  a  more  sure  word  of  Prophecy. 

3.  Unbelief  in  the  most  common  sense  of  the  word  in  the 
Times  of  the  Gospel  means,  a  Refusing  to  credit  the  Record 
of  God  concerning  his  own  dear  Son,  and  not  putting  our  Trust 
in  him  as  such  a  Saviour  as  God  has  revealed  him  to  be — This  is 
my  beloved  Son— This  is  the  especial  Commandment  of  God  in  the 
Gospel  Day. 

4.  Unbelief  likewise  means  a  not  believing  the  great  Realities 
of  an  unseen  future  and  eternal  State.  We  have  this  Description 
of  the  Nature  of  Faith  in  Heb.  ii.  i.  That  is  the  Substance  of 
Things— Faith  makes  real  the  &c.  Now  Unbelief  does  just  the 
contrary,  it  annihilates  Things  which  the  Saints  of  &c.  and  rejects 
the  evidence  &c. — 

2  Gen.     I  am  to  consider  the  peculiar  Malignancy  of  Unbelief. 


156  History  of  the    Oranges. 

1.  It  reflects  the  greatest  Dishonor  upon  the  blessed  God,  in 
that  it  contemns  his  Veracity,  and  in  effect  charges  him  with  False- 
hood. 

Thus  the  Apostle  says,  1  Epi.  5,  10,  He  who  believeth  not  God 
hath  made  him  a  Lyar,  because  he  believeth  not  the  Record  which 
God  &c. 

2.  The  Evil  and  Exceeding  Malignancy  of  tTnbelief  consists  in 
this,  that  it  saps  the  Foundation  of  all  Religion  and  Goodness. 

3.  Unbelief  must  appear  very  malignant  if  it  be  considered  that 
it  opens  the  Door  for  all  Manner  of  Sin,  and  is  a  Root  of  Bitter- 
ness whence  naturally  grows  every  Kind  of  Vice  and  wickedness — 
Can  God  see  thro'  the  thicke  and  darke — Who  is  the  Lord  that  we 
should  fear — The  natural  offspring  of  Unbelief  is  Profaneness. 
The  Antients  of  the  House  &c.  said  the  Lord  seeth  not  us,  the 
Lord  hath  forsaken  the  Earth.     Ezek.  8,  12. 

4.  The  Evil  and  Malignity  of  Unbelief  appears  farther  from 
this  consideration  that  it  doth  in  the  most  effectual  Manner  destroy 
the  Soul  which  is  under  the  power  of  it,  and  brings  upon  Persons 
the  most  terrible  Condemnation— Our  Lord  says  of  some,  showing 
the  aggravated  Ruin  that  should  come  upon — 

5.  Unbelief  appears  exceeding  malignant  on  the  Account  of  its 
being  a  Slight  and  Rejection  of  that  glorious  Scheme  of  Salvation 
which  the  Wisdom  and  Mercy  of  God  has  contrived  in  Favour  of 
fallen  guilty  perishing  mankind. 

The  holy  Spirit  reproves  the  World  of  Sin  because  they  believe 
not  on  Christ.     Unbelievers  receive  the  Grace  of  God  in  the  Gospel. 

3  Gen.  I  pass  now  to  Shew  why  such  cannot  enter  into  the 
Kingdom  of  God,  or  be  admitted  into  that  blessed  and  glorious 
Rest  which  remains  for  his  believing  People  who  remain,  &c. 

I.  Because  God  himself  hath  ordained  the  Contrary.  Such  is 
the  unalterable  Constitution  of  God  himself  respecting  ye  human 
Race,  that  such  as  continue  in  Unbelief  shall  remain  in  their  Sins — 
I  said  therefore  that  ye  shall  die  in  your  Sins,  for  if  ye  believe  not 
that  I  am  he,  ye  shall  die  in  your  Sins,  are  the  words  of  our  Divine 
Lord.     John  8,  24. 

Joh.  3,  18  and  36.  He  who  believeth  not  is  condemned  already, 
because  he  hath  not  believed  on  the  Name  of  the  only  begotten 


Sermon  by  Rev.   Caleb  Smith.  157 

Son  of  God.     He  who  believeth  not  the  Son,  shall  not  see  Life,  but 
the  wrath  of,  &c. — He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized,  shall  be,  &c. — 

2.  Unbelief  does  by  natural  consequence  exclude  from  the 
Land  of  promised  Rest,  because  such  as  remain  under  its  prevail- 
ing Influence  will  not  in  Earnest  seek  after  it.  The  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  suflfereth  violence — Persons  will  not  shine — How  can  Per- 
sons seek  first  the  Kingdom— When  Persons  thro'  Unbelief  think 
that  God  is  altogether  such,  &c.,  like  those  wicked  Persons  spoken 
of  in  the  50  Psla.  Unbelief  causes  Persons  to  depart  from  the 
living  God,  &c. 

3.  Unbelief  effectually  prevents  Persons  of  gaining  any  Title 
to  the  celestial  Canaan.  The  Promise  is  made  to  Faith,  whereby 
Persons  are  brought  into  Union  with  Christ — The  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  is  by  Mankind  in  their  present  depraved  fallen  condition 
obtained  only  by  Inheritance. 

Impt  I.  We  are  hence  taught  what  is  the  Root  of  that  Sin  and 
Wickedness  which  so  generally  prevails  among  the  Children. 

2.  Hence  we  are  also  taught  to  account  for  that  Security  and 
Carelessness  about  the  Concerns  of  the  Soul  and  Eternity  which  is 
so  prevalent  at  this  Day. 

3.  We  may  hence  infer  that  such  as  are  moral  in  the  Conduct, 
and  maintain  a  fair  external  Appearance  of  Religion,  if  they  are 
Unbelievers,  are  heinously  guilty,  and  are  very  high-handed  Offend- 
ers against  the  Majesty  of  God. 

4.  We  are  hence  instructed  that  where  there  is  not  Holiness 
and  a  careful  conscientious  Obedience  in  the  Life,  there  cannot  be 
true  Faith  in  the  Heart. 

5.  We  learn  hence  that  Unbelief  does  in  the  most  eflfectual 
Manner  cut  the  Sinews  of  all  true  Holiness. 

Exh.  I.  To  the  Saints  of  God  that  they  would  earnestly  seek  to 
get  their  Remainders  of  Unbelief  remedied  &c.  and  to  obtain  an 
Increase  of  Faith. 

2.  Let  me  exhort  unbelieving  Sinners  that  they  would  be  sen- 
sible of  their  Guilt  and  Dangers,  and  be  counselled  to  obtain 
Speedy  Deliverance  from  the  Power  of  Unbelief. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

ESSEX   COUNTY   IN   THE   WAR   OF   THE   EEVOLUTIOIST. 

GEN.  GAGE,  who  had  been  for  ten  years  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  British  forces  in  America,  was,  in 
1774,  appointed  Governor  of  Massachusetts.  He  ar- 
rived in  Boston  on  May  13th,  of  that  year.  The  act 
known  as  the  "Boston  Port  Bill"  had  passed  the 
British  Parliament  on  the  29th  of  March,  1774,  and 
went  into  effect  on  Jnne  1st,  following.  Its  purpose 
was  to  preclude  the  privilege  of  landing  and  discharg- 
ing, or  of  loading  and  shipping  goods,  wares  or  mer- 
chandise, and  every  vessel,  within  certain  limits  desig- 
nated, was  required  to  depart  within  six  hours,  unless 
laden  with  food  or  fuel.  This  act  was  soon  followed 
by  another,  altering  the  charter  of  the  Province  of 
Massachusetts,  and  essentially  abridging  the  liberties 
of  the  people.  On  the  day  named,  business  was  sus- 
l)ended  in  Boston  at  12  o'clock,  noon,  and  the  harbor 
was  closed  against  all  vessels.  ^ 

This  act  of  tyranny  and  oppression  not  only  caused 
great  indignation,  but  became  the  occasion  of  organized 
effort  in  the  colonies  for  the  purpose,  more  or  less 
distinctly  avowed,  of  effecting  the  doAvnfall  of  British 
power  in  America,  and  of  making  them  an  independent 


I.  Holmes'  Annals,  II.,  187. 


Essex  County  in  the  Revolution.       1 59 

nation.  That  purpose  was  expressed  in  an  address  to 
the  inhabitants  of  Great  Britain  by  the  Provincial 
Congress  of  Massachusetts,  when  it  said,  "appealing 
to  heaven  for  the  justice  of  our  course,  we  determine 
to  die  or  be  free." 

\Anb.en  the  passage  of  the  Port  Bill  was  announced 
in  Virginia,  the  House  of  Burgesses  of  that  Province 
resolved  that  the  first  of  June,  when  tlie  act  was  to 
take  effect,  shoiild  be  set  apart  by  the  members  as  a  day 
of  fasting,  humiliation  and  prayer,  "  devoutly  to  im- 
plore tlie  divine  interposition  for  averting  the  heavy 
calamity  which  threatened  destruction  to  their  civil 
rights,  as  well  as  the  evils  of  a  civil  war  ;  to  give  them 
one  heart  and  one  mind  firmly  to  oppose,  by  all  just 
and  i)roper  means,  every  injury  to  American  rights.  "^ 

New  Jersey  was  alive  to  the  importance  of  meeting 
the  crisis.  The  initiative  steps  were  taken  by  Essex 
County.  The  following  call  was  issued  for  a  meeting, 
to  be  held  on  June  11,  1774  : 

"  All  the  inhabitants  of  Essex  in  New  Jersey,  friends  to  the  con- 
stitution, the  liberties  and  properties  of  America,  are  hereby  noti- 
fied and  desired  to  meet  at  the  court  house,  in  Newark,  on  Satur- 
day the  eleventh  of  June,  instant,  at  two  of  the  clock  in  the  after- 
noon, to  consult  and  deliberate  and  firmly  resoh^e  upon  the  most 
prudent  and  salutary  measures  to  secure  and  maintain  the  consti- 
tutional rights  of  his  majesty's  subjects  in  America.  It  is  therefore 
hoped  that  from  the  importance  of  the  subject,  the  meeting  will 
be  general. 

"Signed,  by  order,  at  a  meeting  of  a  number  of  the  free  holders 
of  the  County  of  Essex,  the  seventh  day  of  June,  1774. 

JOHN  DeHART. 

ISAAC  OGDEN." 

The  public  meeting  of  citizens  was  duly  held,  on  the 
appointed  day,  and,  after  solemn  deliberation,  the  fol- 
lowing preamble  and  resolutions  were  adopted  : 


I.   Holmes'  Annals,  II.  186. 


i6o  History  of  the  Oranges. 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  Freeholders  and  Inhabitants  of  the  County 
of  Essex  in  the  Province  of  New  Jersey  at  Newark  in  the  said 
County,  on  Saturday  the  nth  day  of  June,  1774;  This  meeting 
taking  into  serious  consideration  some  late  alarming  measures 
adopted  by  the  British  Parliament  for  depriving  his  Majesty's 
American  subjects  of  their  undoubted  and  constitutional  rights 
and  prmciples,  and  particularly  the  Act  for  blockading  the  port  of 
Boston,  which  appears  to  them  pregnant  with  the  most  dangerous 
consequences  to  all  his  Majesty's  Dominions  in  America,  do  unan- 
imously resolve  and  agree : 

"  I.  That,  under  the  enjoyment  of  our  constitutional  privileges 
and  immunities,  we  will  ever  cheerfully  render  all  due  obedience 
to  the  Crown  of  Great  Brittain,  as  well  as  full  faith  and  allegiance 
to  his  most  Gracious  Majesty  King  George  the  Third ;  and  do 
esteem  a  firm  dependence  on  the  Mother  Country  essential  to  our 
political  security  and  happiness. 

"2.  That  the  late  Act  of  Parliament  relative  to  Boston,  which 
so  absolutely  destroys  every  idea  of  safety  and  confidence,  appears 
to  us  big  with  the  most  dangerous  and  alarming  consequences, 
especially  as  subversive  of  that  very  dependence  which  we  should 
earnestly  wish  to  continue,  as  our  best  safeguard  and  protection  ; 
And  that  we  conceive  every  well-wisher  to  Great  Brittain  and  her 
Colonies  is  now  loudly  called  upon  to  exert  his  utmost  abilities  in 
promoting  every  legal  and  prudential  measure  towards  obtaining  a 
repeal  of  the  said  Act  of  Parliament,  and  all  others  subversive  of 
the  undoubted  rights  and  liberties  of  his  Majesty's  American  sub- 
jects. 

"  3.  That  it  is  our  unanimous  opinion,  that  it  would  conduce  to 
the  restoration  of  the  liberties  of  America,  should  the  Colonies 
enter  into  a  joint  agreement  not  to  purchase  or  use  any  articles  of 
British  Manufacture,  and  especially  any  commodities  imported 
from  the  East  Indies,  under  such  restrictions  as  may  be  agreed 
upon  by  a  general  Congress  of  the  said  Colonies  hereafter  to  be 
appointed. 

"  4.  That  this  county  will  most  readily  and  cheerfully  join  their 
brethren  of  the  other  counties  in  this  Province,  in  promoting  such 
Congress  of  Deputies,  to  be  sent  from  each  of  the  Colonies,  in 
order  to  form  a  general  plan  of  union,  so  that  the  m.easures  to  be 
pursued  for  the  important  ends  in  view,  may  be  uniform  and  firm  ; 
to  which  plan  when  concluded  upon,  we  do  agree  faithfully  to 
adhere  and  do  now  declare  ourselves  ready  to  send  a  Committee  to 
meet  with  those  from  the  other  counties,  at  such  time  and  place, 
as  by  them  may  be  agreed  upon,  in  order  to  elect  proper  persons 
to  represent  this  Province  in  the  said  general  Congress. 


Essex   Cotmty  in  the  Revolution.       i6i 

"  5.  That  the  freeholders  and  inhabitants  of  the  other  counties 
in  this  Province  be  requested  speedily  to  convene  themselves  to- 
gether, to  consider  the  present  distressing  state  of  our  public 
affairs;  and  to  correspond  and  consult  with  such  other  Committees 
as  may  be  appointed,  as  well  as  with  our  Committee,  who  are 
hereby  directed  to  correspond  and  consult  with  such  other  Com- 
mittees, as  also  with  those  of  any  other  Province  ;  and  particularly 
to  meet  with  the  said  County  Committees,  in  order  to  nominate 
and  appoint  Deputies  to  represent  this  Province  in  General 
Congress. 

"6.  We  do  hereby  unanimously  request  the  following  gentle- 
men to  accept  of  that  trust,  and  accordingly  do  appoint  them  our 
Committee  for  the  purposes  aforesaid,  viz  :  Stephen  Crane,  Henry 
Garritse,  Joseph  Riggs,  William  Livingston,  William  P.  Smith, 
John  DeHart,  John  Chetwood,  Isaac  Ogden  and  Elias  Boudinot, 
esquires." 

The  other  counties  of  the  Province  promptly  and 
cordially  responded  to  the  appeal  of  Essex. 

A  convention  of  the  committees  of  the  several  conn- 
ties  met  at  New  Brunswick,  on  Thursday,  July  21st, 
and  continued  in  session  to  Saturday  following. 
Seventy-two  gentlemen  took  part  in  the  delibera- 
tions. Stephen  Crane,  of  Essex,  was  in  the  chair. 
They  unanimously  agreed  in  the  declaration : 

"  1st.  We  think  it  necessary  to  declare,  that  the  inhabitants  of 
this  Province,  (and  we  are  confident  the  people  of  America  in  gen- 
eral) are,  and  ever  have  been,  firm  and  unshaken  in  their  loyalty 
to  his  Majesty  King  George  the  Third;  fast  friends  to  the  Revo- 
lution settlement ;  and  that  they  detest  all  thoughts  of  an  inde- 
pendence on  the  Crown  of  Great  Britain ;  Accordingly  we  do,  in 
the  most  sincere  and  solemn  manner,  recognize  and  acknowledge 
his  Majesty  King  George  the  Third  to  be  our  lawful  and  rightful 
Sovereign,  to  whom  under  his  royal  protection  in  our  fundamental 
rights  and  privileges,  we  owe,  and  will  render  all  due  faith  and 
allegiance. 

"2d.  We  think  ourselves  warranted  from  the  principles  of  our 
excellent  Constitution,  to  affirm  that  the  claim  of  the  British  Par- 
liament, (in  which  we  neither  are,  nor  can  be  represented)  to  make 
laws  which  shall  be  binding  on  the  King's  American  subjects,  'in 
all  cases  whatsoever,'  and  particularly  for  imposing  taxes  for  the 
purpose  of  raising  a  revenue  in  America,  is  unconstitutional  and 
II 


i62  History  of  the  Oranges. 

oppressive  and  which  we  think  ourselves  bound  in  duty  to  our- 
selves and  our  posterity  by  all  constitutional  means  in  our  power 
to  oppose. 

"3d.  We  think  the  several  late  Acts  of  Parliament  for  shutting 
up  the  port  of  Boston,  invading  the  Charter  rights  of  the  Province 
of  the  Massachusetts  8^3^,  and  subjecting  supposed  offenders  to  be 
sent  for  trial  to  other  Colonies,  or  to  Great  Britain  ;  the  sending  over 
an  armed  force  to  carry  the  same  into  effect,  and  thereby  reducing 
many  thousands  of  innocent  and  loyal  inhabitants  to  poverty  and 
distress ;  are  not  only  subversive  of  the  undoubted  rights  of  his 
Majesty's  American  subjects,  but  also  repugnant  to  the  common 
principles  of  humanity  and  justice.  These  proceedings,  so  violent 
in  themselves,  and  so  truly  alarming  to  the  other  Colonies,  (many 
of  which  are  equally  exposed  to  Ministerial  vengeance,)  render  it 
the  indispensible  duty  of  all,  heartily  to  unite  in  the  most  proper 
measures,  to  procure  redress  for  their  oppressed  countrymen,  now 
suffering  in  the  common  cause;  and  for  the  re- establishment  of 
the  constitutional  rights  of  America  on  a  solid  and  permanent 
foundation. 

"4th.  To  effect  this  important  purpose,  we  conceive  the  most 
eligible  method  is,  to  appoint  a  General  Congress  of  Commissioners 
of  the  respective  Colonies,  who  shall  be  empowered  mutually  to 
pledge,  each  to  the  rest,  the  publick  honour  and  faith  of  their  con- 
stituent Colonies,  firmly  and  inviolably  to  adhere  to  the  determina- 
tions of  the  said  Congress. 

"  5th.  Resolved,  That  we  do  earnestly  recommend  a  general 
non-importation  and  a  non-consumption  agreement  to  be  entered 
into  at  such  time,  and  regulated  in  such  manner,  as  to  the  Con- 
gress shall  appear  most  advisable. 

"6th.  Resolved,  That  it  appears  to  us,  to  be  a  duty  incumbent 
on  the  good  people  of  this  Province,  to  afford  some  immediate 
relief  to  the  many  suffering  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Boston. 

"  Therefore,  the  several  County  Committees  do  now  engage  to  set 
on  foot,  and  promote  collections,  without  delay,  either  by  subscrip- 
tions or  otherwise,  throughout  their  respective  counties ;  and  that 
they  will  remit  the  moneys  arising  from  the  said  subscriptions,  or 
any  other  benefactions,  that  may  be  voluntarily  made  by  the  inhab- 
itants, either  to  Boston,  or  into  the  hands  of  James  Neilson,  John 
Dennis,  William  Ouke,  Abraham  Hunt,  Samuel  Tucker,  Dr.  Isaac 
Smith,  Grant  Gibbon,  Thomas  Sinnicks,  and  John  Carey,  whom 
we  do  hereby  appoint  a  Committee  for  forwarding  the  same  to 
Boston,  in  such  way  and  manner  as  they  shall  be  advised  will  best 
answer  the  benevolent  purpose  designed. 


Essex  County  in  the  Revolution.  163 

"7th.  Resolved,  That  the  grateful  acknowledgments  of  this 
body  are  due  to  the  noble  and  worthy  patrons  of  constitutional 
liberty,  in  the  British  Senate,  for  their  laudable  effort  to  avert  the 
storm  they  behold  impending  over  a  much  injured  colony,  and  in 
support  of  the  just  rights  of  the  King's  subjects  in  America. 

"8th.  TP^j^/w^,  That  James  Kinsey,  William  Livingston,  John 
DeHart,  Stephen  Crane  and  Richard  Smith,  Esquires,  or  such  of 
them  as  shall  attend,  be  the  Delegates  to  represent  this  Province 
in  the  General  Continental  Congress,  to  be  held  at  the  City  of 
Philadelphia,  on  or  about  the  first  of  September  next,  to  meet, 
consult  and  advise  with  the  Deputies  from  the  other  Colonies; 
and  to  determine  upon  all  such  prudent  and  lawful  measures  as 
may  be  judged  most  expedient  for  the  Colonies  immediately  and 
unitedly  to  adopt,  in  order  to  obtain  relief  for  an  oppressed  people 
and  the  redress  of  our  general  grievances. 
"  Signed  by  order, 

"JONATHAN  D.  SERGEANT,  Clerk." 

One  of  the  measures  recommended  by  tlie  Congress 
appears  in  an  appeal  by  the  Committee  for  Essex 
County,  to  the  freeholders  of  the  County  qualified  to 
vote  for  representatives  in  the  Legislature. 

It  was  made  their  duty  to  take  notice  of  the  conduct 
of  x)ersons  touching  the  action  of  the  General  Con- 
gress. They  recommended  that  should  any  inhabitant 
of  the  colony  be  found  to  be  disloyal  to  the  Congress 
he  should  "be  held  up  to  public  notice,  as  unfriendly 
to  the  liberties  of  his  country,  and  all  dealings  with 
him  or  her  be  thenceforward  forever  broken  off."  For 
closer  observation  of  the  conduct  of  individuals,  it 
was  further  recommended  that  a  committee  be  chosen 
for  each  of  the  three  precincts  of  the  County,  viz : 
Elizabeth,  Newark  and  Aquackanung.  Not  less  than 
fifteen  for  the  first  two,  and  not  less  than  ten  for  the 
latter  ;  being  inhabitants  of  the  respective  precincts  of 
the  most  reputable  character. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  Newark  precinct,  at  a  meeting 
at  the  Court  House,  December  7,  1774,  unanimously 
chose  as  a  Committee  of  Observation  for  the  township 


164  History  of  the  Oranges. 

of  Newark,  twenty- three  persons,  viz  :  Joseph  Allen, 
Esq.,  Garrabrant  Garrabrant,  Esq.,  Caleb  Cami^,  Be- 
thuel  Pierson,  John  Range,  Solomon  Davis,  Doctor 
Matthias  Pierson,  Samnel  Pennington,  Joseph  Hed- 
den,  Jnn.,  Daniel  Condict,  John  Earle,  John  Spear, 
Moses  Farrand,  David  Cnndict,  Esq.,  John  Peck, 
Joseph  Lyon,  Thomas  Cadmus,  Jun.,  Abraham  Lyon, 
James  Wheeler,  Ichabod  Harrison,  Jonathan  Sayer, 
Robert  Johnson,  Robert  Neil,  Jun. 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  that,  of  the  above  named 
Committee,  Bethuel  Pierson,  John  Range,  Matthias 
Pierson,  Daniel  Cundict,  David  Cundict,  John  Peck 
and  Ichabod  Harrison, — and  perhaps  some  others, — 
were  residents  of  the  territory  now  known  as  the 
Oranges.  The  enthusiasm  of  the  people  of  that 
neighborhood  was  thoroughly  aroused,  in  defence  of 
the  public  liberties.  On  May  4,  1775,  the  inhabitants 
of  the  whole  Township  had  a  Town  Meeting — probably 
at  the  Meeting  House  near  the  River.  The  following 
is  the  official  record  of  the  proceedings  : 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  Freeholders  and  Inhabitants  of  the  Town- 
ship of  Newark,  in  New  Jersey,  on  Thursday  the  4th  day  of  May, 
A.D.  1775,  Dr.  William  Burnett  in  the  chair. 

"An  association  having  been  entered  into  and  subscribed  by  the 
Freeholders  and  other  Inhabitants  of  said  Town,  a  motion  was 
made  and  agreed  to,  that  the  same  be  read.  The  same  was  read 
and  is  as  follows  : 

"  We,  the  Freeholders  and  Inhabitants  of  the  Township  of  New- 
ark, having  deliberately  considered  the  openly  avowed  design  of 
the  Ministry  of  Great  Britain  to  raise  a  revenue  in  America,  being 
affected  with  horrour  at  the  bloody  scene  now  acting  in  the  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  for  carrying  that  arbitrary  design  into  Execution  ;  firm- 
ly convinced  that  the  very  existence  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of 
America  can,  under  God,  subsist  on  no  other  basis  than  the  most 
animated  and  perfect  union  of  its  inhabitants:  and  being  sensible 
of  the  necessity  in  the  present  exigency  of  preserving  good  order 
and  a  due  regulation  in  all  public  measures ;  with  hearts  perfectly 


Essex  County  in  the  Revolutioit.         165 

abhorrent  of  slavery,  do  solemnly,  under  all  the  sacred  ties  of  re- 
ligion, honour  and  love  to  our  country,  associate  and  resolve  that 
we  will  personally,  and  as  far  as  our  influence  can  extend,  endeavor 
to  support  and  carry  into  execution  whatever  measures  may  be 
recommended  by  the  Continental  Congress  or  agreed  upon  by  the 
proposed  convention  of  Deputies  of  this  Province,  for  the  purpose 
of  preserving  and  fixing  our  constitution  on  a  permanent  basis, 
and  opposing  the  execution  of  the  several  despotick  and  oppressive 
Acts  of  British  Parliament,  until  the  wished  for  reconciliation 
between  Great  Britian  and  America  on  constitutional  principles 
can  be  obtained. 

"That  a  General  Committee  be  chosen  by  this  Town  for  the  pur- 
poses aforesaid,  and  that  we  will  be  directed  by,  and  support,  them 
in  all  things  respecting  the 'common  cause  the  preservation  of 
peace,  good  order,  the  safety  of  individuals  and  private  property.' 

"Voted,  That  Isaac  Ogden,  esquire,  Captain  Philip  Van  Cortland, 
Bethuel  Pierson  and  Caleb  Camp  be  the  deputies  to  represent 
said  Township  in  the  Provincial  Congress  referred  to  in  the  said 
association. 

"  The  General  Committee  also  mentioned  in  the  said  association 
was  then  chosen,  consisting  of  forty-four. 

"Agreed,  that  the  powers  delegated  to  the  Deputies  and  General 
Committee  continue  until  the  expiration  of  five  weeks  after  the 
rising  of  the  next  Continental  Congress  and  no  longer. 

"Agreed,  That  the  General  Committee  have  power  to  appoint 
one  or  more  Sub-Committees,  to  act  on  any  emergency. 

ISAAC  LONGVVORTH. 

Town  Clerk. 

"  The  General  Committee  immediately  convened  and  elected 
Lewis  Ogden,  esquire,  chairman,  Doctor  William  Burnett,  deputy 
chairman,  and  Elisha  Boudinot,  esquire,  clerk  of  the  said  General 
Committee. 

"Agreed,  that  the  above  named  Lewis  Ogden,  esquire.  Dr. 
William  Burnett,  Elisha  Boudinot,  esquire,  Isaac  Ogden,  esquire, 
and  Mr.  Isaac  Longworth,  be  a  Committee  of  Correspondence 
for  said  Town. 

ELISHA  BOUDINOT, 

Clerk  to  Committee.'"    i 


I.  The  foregoing  documents  have  been  taken  from  the  minutes  of  the 
Provincial  Congress  and  Council  of  Safety  of  New  Jersey.  The  author 
believes  that  they  will  be  more  valued  by  his  readers  than  any  historical  sum- 
mary ;  giving,  as  they  do,  the  words  of  the  writers,  their  sentiments  and 
impulses  in  that  momentous  crisis  of  their  political  affairs. 


i66  History  of  the  Oranges. 

The  convention  of  the  committees  of  the  several 
counties  in  the  Province,  which  met  at  New  Bruns- 
wick, July  21,  1774,  to  nominate  delegates  to  the  first 
Continental  Congress,  foreshadowed  the  important  step 
alluded  to  in  the  action  of  the  Town  Meeting  at  New- 
ark, above  noted,  viz :  the  institution  of  a  Provincial 
Congress,  which  should  assume  the  government  of  the 
affairs  of  New  Jersey,  independent  of  the  royal  gov- 
ernor, Franklin,  and  his  Council  and  the  House  of 
Assembly.  ^ 

Among  the  first  acts  of  this  Provincial  Congress,  was 
one  to  place  the  Province  as  nearly  as  possible  in  the 
best  state  of  defence  and  active  co-operation  in  general 
measures,  for  the  common  protection  of  American 
rights.  It  resolved  at  first  that  £10,000,  proclamation 
money,  should  be  raised  by  apportionment  among 
the];^counties.  The  .i)roportion  for  Essex  County  was 
£742,  18s.  Subsequently,  an  ordinance  was  passed  to 
issue  bills  of  credit  for  £80,000.  An  ordinance  of  Au- 
gust 16,  1775,  provided  for  raising  twenty  regiments 
and  a  company  of  rangers,  and  for  commissioning  their 
officers.  On  the  same  day,  it  was  also  resolved :  "That 
4,000  able  effective  men  be  enlisted  and  enrolled  in  the 
several  counties,  who  shall  hold  themselves  in  constant 
readiness,  on  the  shortest  notice,  to  march  to  any  place 
where  their  assistance  may  be  required  for  the  defence 
of  this  or  any  neighboring  colony."  ^ 

In  1775,  Revolution  and  Independence  grew  apace. 
The  now  confederated  colonies  raised  their  quotas  of 


1.  The  Continental  Congress,  at  its  first  meeting,  recommended  the 
establishment  of  Conventions  or  Assemblies,  sufficient  to  meet  the  exigencies 
of  the  period,  and  "to  adopt  such  government  as,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
representatives  of  the  people,  might  conduce  to  the  happiness  and  safety  of 
their  constituents  in  particular  and  America  in  general." 

2.  Minutes  of  the  Provincial  Congress,  p.  187. 


Washington  in  Newark  Mountains.      167 

troops,  and  pledged  tlieir  treasures  to  the  comiiiou 
cause.  The  torch  of  war  was  lighted  at  Lexington 
and  Bunker  Hill.  Fort  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point, 
strong  fortresses  on  Lake  Champlain,  were  taken  pos- 
session of,  and  a  highway  opened  to  Canada.  George 
Washington  was  made  commander-in-chief  of  the  Con- 
tinental army.  The  British  Parliament,  in  October, 
resolved  to  raise  an  army  of  40,000  men,  more  than 
17,000  of  whom  were  afterwards  hired  as  mercenaries. 
At  the  opening  of  1776,  the  idea  of  Independence  of 
the  mother  country,  which  in  the  year  previous  had 
been  publicly  discussed,  gained  strength ;  though 
meeting  with  strenuous  opposition  in  some  quarters, 
the  popular  sentiment  in  its  behalf  made  rapid  pro- 
gress. On  July  4th,  the  Continental  Congress  de- 
clared the  British  Provinces  in  America  to  be  Free 
and  Independent  States.  Trusting  their  cause  and 
themselves  to  the  guidance  of  the  Gfod  of  their  fath- 
ers, the  colonists  accei)ted  the  issue  of  war. 

WASHINGTON   IN   THE   NEWARK   MOUNTAINS. 

During  the  winter  of  1776-7,  the  residents  of  New 
York,  as  also  the  thousands  of  the  British  troops  there 
and  on  Staten  Island,  were  in  great  straits  for  neces- 
sary supplies.  Many  articles  of  food  could  not  be 
had,  and  others  were  so  dear  as  to  exhaust  the  resour- 
ces of  the  most  wealthy.  A  turkey  was  worth  four 
dollars ;  half  a  dozen  onions  a  dollar.  Fifty  dollars 
would  not  feed  a  small  family  for  ten  days.  Wood 
was  so  scarce  that  it  could  not  be  had  to  keep  the 
houses  warm  or  to  cook  victuals.  Westchester  Coun- 
ty, Long  Island,  and  Staten  Island  were  under  royalist 
rule ;  but  the  war  of  the  previous  year  had  arrested 
the  usual  tilling  of  the  iields  ;  and  of  the  crops  that 
had  been  raised,  but  little  was  harvested.     New  Jersey 


1 68  History  of  the  Oranges. 

had  been  a  source  of  supply  to  New  York  in  the  past, 
but  now  all  cattle  and  family  stores  which  were  not 
needed  for  home  consumption,  were  secreted  in  the 
interior.  Foraging  parties  sent  to  ravage  the  country 
contiguous  to  New  York,  brought  little  back.  To  the 
Jerseymen  whose  avarice  outweighed  their  patriotism, 
it  was  a  time  of  great  temptation  to  collect  what  they 
could  by  plunder  or  by  purchase,  of  food  and  forage, 
and,  with  a  protection  in  their  pocket,  to  transport  it 
to  Bergen  Heights  and  the  Hudson  River. 

Sir  Henry  Clinton,  who  was  in  command  at  New 
York,  ordered  and  entreated  the  farmers  of  the  ter- 
ritory under  the  royal  rule  to  bring  in  their  produc- 
tions. As  late  as  September  of  that  year,  he  organized 
a  raid  into  New  Jersey,  with  2,000  troops,  divided 
into  four  columns.  His  i^oJnt  of  rendezvous  was  New 
Bridge,  three  miles  above  the  Hackensack.  One  col- 
umn under  Gen.  Campbell  entered  the  State  by  way 
of  Elizabethtown ;  one  under  Capt.  Drummond,  by 
Dow's  ferry,  above  the  bridge  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  ;  one  under  Gen.Yaugn,  byway  of  Fort  Lee  ; 
and  the  fourth  under  Lieut.  Campbell,  by  way  of  Tap- 
pan.  Clinton  himself  followed,  by  the  way  of  Dow's 
ferry,  over  the  Belleville  road,  to  Schuyler' s  mansion 
at  Belleville.  The  result  of  the  enterprise  was  the  cap- 
ture of  four  hundred  cattle,  four  hundred  sheep,  and  a 
few  horses.  Eight  men  were  killed,  eighteen  wounded, 
ten  missing,  and  five  taken  prisoners,  ^ 

The  success  of  this  carefully  concerted  raid  illus- 
trates the  defenceless  condition  of  this  region  of 
country,  east  of  the  Orange  Mountain.  Its  only  pro- 
tection was  the  few  companies  of  local  militia,  enrolled 
to  be  called  out  for  thirty  or  sixty  days'  "tour  of 
duty"  in  case  of  alarm.     Throughout  the  war  New- 

\.  Winfield's  History  of  Hudson  County,  p.  150. 


Washington  in  Newark  Mountains.      169 

ark  Township  was,  at  all  times,  open  to  annoyances 
and  ravage  by  bands  of  British  soldiers,  chiefly  Hes- 
sians and  refugees.  Every  week  the  Hessian  women 
connected  with  the  camxj  at  Bergen  Heights,  were  ex- 
pected to  pass  over  the  region,  and  rob  the  ovens  of 
their  weekly  supply  of  bread.  They  were  attended 
by  a  few  soldiers  for  protection,  and  to  enforce  their 
demands.  ^ 

Other  bands,  composed  of  men  only,  ranged  the 
country,  plundering  such  farms  and  dwellings  as  the 
tories  marked  with  the  letter  R,  indicating  them  as 
the  property  of  rebels.  ^  The  harrassed  people  were 
always  subject  to  alarms,  and  to  the  necessity  of  sud- 
^  ^y  den  flight  for  safety  to  the 

^^^Z^  c^^^^TZj^  Mountain.  Cyrus  Jones, 
■  — <i=^2:::^*^  who  was  born  and  died  on 
Main  Street,  nearly  opposite  the  present  Munn  Avenue, 
related  that  his  father  was  obliged  to  flee  to  the  Moun- 
tain, with  his  family,  to  escape  the  raid  of  the  Hes- 
sians. They  took  with  them  their  silver  plate  and 
money,  together  with  enough  provisions  to  last  sev- 
eral days.  The  cattle  were  turned  loose,  and  upon  re- 
turning they  were  pleased  to  find  that  the  house  and 
barn  had  not  been  burned.  Some  live  stock  and  a  few 
articles  from  the  house  were  taken.  The  invaders 
not  infrequently  traversed  the  country  on  horses, 
stabling  them  at  night  in  the  houses  of  the  people, 
who  were  compelled  to  vacate  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  the  raiders.     The  house  of   Dr.    Matthias 


1.  Each  Hessian  regiment  brought  with  it  the  wives  and  families  of  the 
men,  in  numbers  sufficient  to  serve  the  barracks. 

2.  The  tories  at  Caldwell  were  very  numerous  and  very  bitter  towards  the 
whigs.  They  gave  information  as  to  what  houses  to  attack,  and  where  to 
steal  horses.  Some  of  them  made  considerable  money  by  trading  within  the 
enemy's  lines. 


170  History  of  the  Oranges. 

Pierson  was  so  used.  It  occupied  the  present  site  of 
the  Central  Presbyterian  Church,  and  was  removed 
when  the  parish  purchased  the  property  for  a  build- 
ing. Jotham  Harrison,  whose  dwelling  stood  on  the 
site  of  the  Halsted  house,  next  east  of  the  Reformed 
Church,  corner  of  Main  and  Halsted  Streets,  was, 
with  his  family,  driven  from  their  commodious  home, 
and  compelled  to  seek  refuge  over  the  Mountain.  Salt 
hay  was  brought  in  from  the  barn,  and  distributed 
•        y  f~\    over    the   floors  for 

-•^^^^  riders.      Matthias 

Dod,  who  lived  on  Grove  Street,  (which  was  known 
for  many  years  after  the  war  as  Whiskey  Lane,) 
entered  the  service.  When  he  went  to  his  regiment,  for 
the  better  protection  of  his  wife  and  children,  he  took 
them  to  the  house  of  his  brother  Joseph,  who  lived  in 
Centre  Street,  corner  of  Central  Avenue,  on  the  projD- 

erty  now  owned  by  Mr. 
y     /^K  Josiah  H.  Reed.    Joseph 

//^^/lA^c^O^  I^od  married  a  daughter 
^  of  Amos  Williams,  who 

was  a  pronounced  loyalist.  The  daughter  partook  of 
his  tory  sympathies,  and  made  her  household  very  un- 
comfortable by  her  bitter  antagonism.  It  so  happened 
that  a  small  troop  of  light  horse  visited  the  Mountain, 
and  took  x)ossession  of  the  dwelling,  wherein  to  spend 
the  night  and  stable  their  horses.  It  was  necessary 
that  both  horses  and  riders  should  be  under  the  same 
roof,  as  the  former,  if  placed  in  the  barn,  were  ex- 
exposed  to  capture.  After  Mrs.  Dod's  British  friends 
had  left  their  night' s  quarters,  and  she  had  surveyed 
the  condition  of  the  same,  she  declared  that  "after 
all,  they  were  not  very  nice."  The  consequence  was 
that  her  own  loyalty  to  King  George  was  very  sensibly 
modified. 


Revolutionary  Incidents.  171 

REVOLUTIOJSTARY    INCIDENTS   IN    THIS    NEIGHBORHOOD. 

The  retreat  of  the  American  army  before  Cornwallis 
in  November,  1776,  was  the  only  occasion  when  its 
commander-in-chief  tarried  at  the  Mountains.  With 
two  brigades  encamped  at  Bloomfield  and  Cranetown, 
and  one  at  Newark,  he  waited  one  week  hoping  for 
reinforcements,  when  the  British  forces  compelled  him 
to  renew  his  march.  There  are  two  houses  in  Bloom- 
field  which  imperfect  tradition  makes  historic  as  his 
headquarters.  One  is  the  old  Cadmus  house,  built  of 
stone,  and  still  standing.  It  was  the  home  of  Col. 
Thomas  Cadmus,  who,  in  July,  1777,  with  four  others, 
was  confined  in  jail,  first  at  Newark,  and  afterwards 
at  Morristown,  for  refusing  to  take  the  oath  of  abjura- 
tion and  allegiance.  The  tradition  is  based  upon  a 
statement  made  by  an  old  resident  to  persons  still 
living,  that,  when  a  boy  of  ten  years,  he  brought  to 
Washington,  at  that  house,  a  plate  of  cherries,  and 
that  the  great  man  took  him  on  his  knee  while  he  ate 
them  ;  a  statement  quite  reasonable  until  we  reflect 
that  the  Revolution  then  in  progress  coiild  not  have  so 
disturbed  the  course  of  the  seasons  as  to  furnish  ripe 
cherries  in  the  last  days  of  November.  ^ 

The  other  house  claimed  as  headquarters,  belonged 
to  Moses  Farrand.  He  lived  less  than  a  mile  east  of 
Bloomfield,  on  the  old  road  to  Newark.  Mr.  Farrand 
was  possessed  of  proj)erty,  and  was  a  man  of  influence 


I.  We  cite  this  as  a  fair  illustration  of  the  vain  traditions  of  revolutionary 
events,  which  abounded  in  this  region  among  the  inhabitants  of  a  generation 
since,  and  which  are  cherished  even  now.  When  we  came  here,  forty  years 
ago,  we  were  frequently  told  of  skirmishes  and  minor  engagements  that  were 
said  to  have  occurred  between  stragglers  of  the  two  armies  in  the  Mountain 
district.  But  the  stories  are  so  conflicting,  and  so  unimportant  as  to  results, 
that  we  make  no  allusion  to  them  in  this  record.  If  they  had  any  founda- 
tion in  fact,  they  have  been  so  exaggerated  and  distorted  as  to  be  utterly 
worthless  as  history. 


172  History  of  the  Oranges. 

as  well  as  a  patriotic  citizen.  From  a  careful  study  of 
tlie  tradition  and  the  facts  sustaining  it,  made  in  the 
centennial  year,  we  accept  as  historic  that  Washington, 
having  confidence  in  Farrand  as  a  man  of  intelligence 
and  of  tried  virtue,  made  his  house  a  stopping  place, 
and  that  on  one  occasion,  at  least,  spent  the  night  as 
his  guest,  the  house  being  guarded  by  soldiers.  ^  The 
Farrand  proiDerty  is  still  in  the  family.  The  old 
home,  removed  from  its  original  site,  converted  first 
into  a  cider  mill,  and  now  appropriated  to  other  farm 
nses,  is  still  standing.  A  new  dwelling  has  taken 
the  place  of  the  old,  which,  together  with  a  portion  of 
the  farm,  is  occupied  by  the  widow  of  a  grand-son  of 
Washington's  host. 

This  mountain  region  was  an  important  one  in  its 
strategic  relations.  Washington  frequently  traversed 
it,  carefully  inspecting  its  topography,  informing  him- 
self of  the  sentiments  of  the  people,  and  acquiring 
all  necessary  knowledge  of  the  approaches  to  Morris 
County  through,  the  mountain  passes.  He  was  always 
attended  by  kis  suite.  There  are  idle  traditions  that 
on  occasions  he  made  his  visits  alone,  on  secret  service. 
He  appreciated  too  well  the  grave  responsibilities  of 
his  station,  to  allow  himself  to  be  unattended  by  a 
proper  retinue  as  a  guard  to  his  j)erson. 

We  have  it  ui)on  the  authority  of  Mr.  Mark  A. 
Ward,  that  Washington,  in  one  of  his  trips  to  Morris- 
town,  by  means  of  the  Swinefield  Road,  stojDped  at 
the  house  of  Mr.    Ward's  great-grandfather,    Capt. 


I.  Pompton  Plains,  in  Morris  County,  which  was  the  open  traveled  route 
between  the  Highlands  on  the  Hudson  and  Morristown  and  the  Delaware, 
are  full  of  well-founded  traditions  of  armies  marching  through  the  plains, 
and  of  Washington's  occupancy  of  dwellings  where  he  enjoyed  all  necessary 
hospitalities. — Manuscript  History  of  Early  Settlers  of  Pompton  Plains,  by 
Rev.  G.  C.  Schenck,  in  New  Jersey  Historical  Society. 


An  Act  of.  Courtesy.  173 

Thomas  Williams,  ^  in  Tory  Corner,  and  drank  from  a 
pewter  mug  whicli  is  still  preserved  by  the  family.  On 
another  occasion  Washington  passed  from  Orange,  by 
the  Valley  Road,  to  South  Orange,  and  rested  for  re- 
freshment at  an  inn  in  Freemantown,  which  occupied 
the  site  of  the  Hart  house,  north  of  the  intersecting 
point  of  Chestnut  Avenue  with  the  Valley  Road.  It 
was  kept  by  ISTed  Tomkins.  The  host  gave  his  distin- 
guished guests  the  best  of  his  larder,  which  was  fried 
pork  and  boiled  cabbage  ;  of  which  they  partook  with 
good  relish.  Soon  after  resuming  their  route,  Lafay- 
ette was  attacked  with  a  fit  of  vomiting,  which  some- 
what alarmed  himself  and  his  companions,  lest  he 
should  have  eaten  i^oisoned  food.  Their  susj)icions 
were  soon  quieted,  but  the  French  General  did  not 
forget  the  occurrence.  When  visiting  the  United  States 
in  1824,  he  received  an  ovation  in  Newark.  Among 
the  great  numbers  who  called  to  pay  him  their  resjDects 
was  Tomkins,  and,  when  the  name  was  announced,  the 
nation's  guest  asked  if  this  was  the  Mr.  Tomkins  at 
whose  house  under  the  Mountain  he  -made  a  dinner  of 
pork  and  cabbage.  Being  answered  in  the  affirmative, 
he  took  him  by  the  hand,  expressing  his  hapi)iness  at 
meeting  him  again,  and  with  true  French  politeness, 
assured  him  that  "it  was  the  best  dinner  he  had  ever 
eaten  in  his  life." 

AN   ACT  OF  COURTESY    HAS    ITS    REVTARD. 

At  the  time  of  the  retreat  in  1776,  there  was  a  ford 
on  the  Passaic  River  at  Belleville.  ^  When  a  part  of 
Cornwallis'    army  reached    the   river,    the   ford  was 


£.  Capt.  Thomas  Williams  received  his  title  from  having  had  command 
of  the  Parish  Sloop.  A  fuller  account  of  him  and  the  vessel  will  be  found 
in  later  chapters. 

2.  The  bridge  there  was  not  constructed  till  1794. 


174  History  of  •the  Oranges. 

pointed  out  by  Henry  Kingsland,  wlio  lived  in  its 
neighborliood.  Shortly  after  that  time  he  was  ar- 
rested as  a  suspected  spy,  and  confined  in  Jail.  While 
looking  through  the  bars  of  his  cell,  he  was  noticed  by 
the  British  officer  to  whom  he  had  pointed  out  the 
ford.  The  officer  reported  the  case  to  headquarters, 
and  Mr.  Kingsland  was  released  and  returned  to  his 
home. 

AVENGING  THE   INSULTS   OF   A   BHITI8H    OFFICER. 

During  the  war  a  company  of  British  soldiers  was 
encamped  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  at  Belleville, 
directly  opposite  to  the  old  Dutch  Reformed  Church. 
It  occupied  nearly  the  same  site  as  that  of  the  present 
edifice.  The  captain  of  the  company  (Marsh)  had 
been  noticed  by  Captain  Spear  of  the  town,  on  several 
occasions,  to  come  down  to  the  river' s  brink  and  iDlace 
himself  in  an  obscene  posture,  bidding  defiance  to  the 
citizens  of  the  village.  Captain  Spear  bore  the  insult 
until  forbearance  ceased  to  be  a  virtue.  On  a  cer- 
tain morning,  at  an  early  hour,  he  stationed  himself 
with  his  loaded  musket  in  the  belfry  of  the  church,  and 
awaited  the  coming  of  his  majesty's  valiant  captain. 
He  soon  appeared  and  began  to  repeat  his  usual  morn- 
ing insults.  The  captain's  trusty  musket  sent  its 
deadly  missile,  and  arrested  forever  the  nasty  antics 
of  the  British  officer.  ^ 


I.  Our  patriotic  captain  was  a  good  citizen  and  possessed  the  confidence 
of  the  people  to  such  a  degree  that,  after  the  war,  he  represented  them  for 
three  successive  terms  in  the  State  Legislature.  It  is  said  of  him  that,  dur- 
ing this  service,  he  never  did  more  than  give  his  vote  on  the  bills  presented, 
till  near  the  close  of  his  last  term,  when  a  bill  was  reported  relative  to  the 
impounding  of  hogs  running  at  large.  He  then  sprang  to  his  feet,  with 
the  remark  :  "Now,  gentlemen,  I  can  talk  to  you,  for  I  was  born  among 
the  hogs,  brought  up  among  the  hogs,  and  know  all  about  the  hogs." 


Brave  Men  from  Belleville.  175 

BRAVE   MEN   FEOM   BELLEVILLE. 

Nicholas  Joralemon  and  two  other  citizens  of  Belle- 
ville associated  together  to  skirmish  on  their  own  ac- 
count. One  of  them  being  taken  prisoner  by  a  com- 
pany of  the  enemy,  commanded  by  Captain  McNichols 
from  the  fort  at  Paulas  Hook,  his  companions  re- 
solved to  rescue  him  at  all  hazards.  They  made  the 
attempt  on  a  dark  night,  when  McNichols  and  his  men 
were  enjoying  a  ball  at  the  Hook.  The  windows  of  the 
house  in  which  the  ball  was  held  were  closed,  making 
all  dark  without  and  around  it.  One  of  the  Belle- 
ville heroes,  dressed  in  the  uniform  of  a  'British  offi- 
cer, presented  himself  at  the  door  of  the  house  and  de- 
manded to  see  Captain  McNichols.  He  responded  at 
once  to  the  call;  when  the  door  was  immediately  closed, 
and  with  a  bayonet  placed  at  his  heart  he  was  declared 
a  prisoner,  and  threatened  with  instant  death  if  he 
gave  any  alarm.  He  was  taken  to  Belleville,  and  con- 
fined in  the  Episcopal  Church  until  an  exchange  was 
effected  for  their  own  comrade.  Previous  to  the  ex- 
change, the  captain's  dirk  and  pistols  were  taken  from 
him.  The  latter  have  been  frequently  handled  by  the 
narrator  of  this  incident. 

SELF-DETECTION   OF   A   THIEF. 

Mr.  James  Hornblower  used  to  relate,  that  while  a 
squad  of  militia  were  quartered  in  an  old  house  on  the 
main  street,  Belleville,  the  men  were  annoyed  by  the 
loss  of  portions  of  their  clothing,  hung  out  to  dry  after 
tlie  weekly  wash.  As  one  of  their  OAvn  number  was 
suspected  of  the  theft,  they  adopted  the  following 
method  to  detect  him  :  A  rooster,  covered  with  lamp- 
black, was  confined  in  a  corner  of  a  dark  cellar, 
and  each  meml:)er  of  the  squad  was  commanded  to  go 
singly,  place  his  hand  upon  the  fowl,  and  then  return 


176  History  of  the  Oranges. 

with  upheld  hands.  They  were  told  that  when  the 
guilty  one  touched  the  bird  he  would  crow.  The 
blackened  hands  of  all  the  company,  save  one,  discov- 
ered their  integrity,  and  he  standing  self-condemned 
confessed  his  guilt. 

LAFAYETTE   AT^GRY   IN   OEANETOWN. 

During  the  progress  of  the  war  it  happened  not  in- 
frequently that  enterprises  were  undertaken  as  feints, 
to  threaten  on  the  one  hand,  or  to  confuse  and  arrest 
on  the  other,  some  suspected  plan  of  the  enemy. 
Such  an  enterprise  is  noticed  in  the  manuscript  notes 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Tuttle.  ^  He  writes  that  in  an  inter- 
view with  Mr.  Dodd  of  Cranetown,  the  latter  said 
that  he  had  heard  his  father  relate  an  incident  in 
which  he  was  a  participant.  When  the  commander- 
in-chief,  on  an  occasion  of  uncertain  date,  considered 
that  it  was  of  the  highest  necessity  to  keep  the  Brit- 
ish in  N'ew  York,  and  thus  prevent  a  hostile  expedi- 
tion of  Lord  Howe  to  New  England,  or  to  the  south- 
ern coast,  Lafayette  was  entrusted  with  the  scheme  of 
making  a  show  of  attacking  Staten  Island.  To  do  this 
more  effectually,  the  General  had  all  the  boats  which 
could  be  found  on  the  Passaic  River,  above  the  great 
falls,  mounted  on  wheels,  and  carted  across  the  country 
towards  Elizabethtown.  On  a  certain  night,  as  the 
boats  were  being  transported  through  Cranetown,  some 
of  the  wagons  broke  down,  giving  those  engaged  in 
the  enterprise  great  trouble.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  a 
terrible  thunder  storm.  Lafayette  was  much  enraged 
at  the  delay.  General  Winds  was  with  him  and  in 
command  of  the  undertaking,  with  a  detachment  of 
men.  His  voice  was  heard  cheering  and  directing  his 
men.     Mr.  Dodd's  father  said  that  he  "roared  louder 


I.   In  the  Collected  Manuscripts  of  the  New  Jersey  Historical  Society. 


Parson    Chapman.  \*j*j 

tlian  the  thunder, ' '  whicli  was  breaking  overhead.  His 
energy  and  good  sense  did  good  service  in  accomplish- 
ing the  work  in  hand. 

When  the  French  General  was  in  this  country  in 
1824,  he  met  Mr.  Dodd  in  Western  New  York,  by  acci- 
dent. He  not  only  recognized  his  face,  and  grasped 
him  by  the  hand,  but  said  with  a  merry  laugh :  ' '  Oh, 
how  mad  I  was  that  night,  at  Cranetown  ! ' ' 

PAKSON   chapman's   GAME-COCK. 

On  one  occasion,  when  the  parsonage  of  the  Moun- 
tain Society  had  been  deserted  by  Mr.  Chapman  and 
his  family,  who  were  driven  therefrom  by  fear  of  vio- 
lence, a  company  of  British  soldiers  took  possession. 
At  night,  being  merry  with  wine,  they  procured  an 
old  game-cock,  and  placed  him  on  the  table.  They 
called  him  the  rebel  preacher,  and  instituted  a  court 
martial  for  his  trial.  After  going  through  with  the 
usual  forms,  sentence  of  death  by  decapitation  was 
pronounced ;  old  chanticleer  clapped  his  wings  and 
gave  a  ringing  crow,  when  an  officer  rose  from  his  seat 
and  cut  off  his  head.  ^ 

PAESON   CHAPMAN   CHEEPS   FOE  FEEEDOM. 

A  horseman  riding  leisurely  under  the  Mountain,  in 
no  fear  of  danger,  was  roused  by  the  sound  of  an  ap- 
proaching troop  of  British  lighthorse.  He  gave  rein 
to  his  horse,  to  escaj)e  them.  With  oaths  and  threats 
they  admonished  him  to  stop,  but  he  urged  his  steed 
the  more,  and  succeeded  in  keeping  himself  in  advance 
of  his  pursuers  till  he  had  reached  the  summit  of  a 
hill — now  Ridge  street.  The  foe  was  rising  the  hill 
and  within  the  sound  of  his  voice.     The  pursued  and 

I.   History  of  the  Chapman  Family, 
12 


1 78  History  of  the  Oranges. 

fearless  rider  wheeled  about,  and  facing  the  troop, 
raised  himself  in  his  saddle,  took  off  his  cocked  hat, 
and  gave  three  cheers  for  freedom.  The  enemy,  sup- 
posing that  he  had  come  in  sight  of  American  soldiers, 
as  he  looked  beyond  the  hill,  changed  theu-  jDurpose 
and  retreated  in  confusion  through  the  road  by  which 
they  came. 

They  had  pursued  the  rebel  parson  Chapman.  His 
cheers  were  ringing  ones.  It  is  said  of  him  that  he 
had  a  voice  of  uncommon  power.  1 

That  he  was  esteemed  and  trusted  at  headquarters 
may  be  inferred  from  the  fact,  that  Lafayette  spent  a 
day  with  him  at  the  parsonage.  To  add  to  the  pleasure 
of  his  guest,  the  pastor  took  him  to  the  summit  of  the 
Mountain,  to  show  him  the  prospect  which  it  affords. 
Being  delighted  with  its  extent  and  beauty,  the  Gen- 
eral said :  ' '  Doctor,  you  ought  to  build  a  house  here. ' ' 
Chapman  reiDlied  :  "If  we  Presbyterian  priests  were 
as  rich  as  your  Roman  Catholic  priests  in  France,  I 
would." 

When  Lafayette  visited  this  country,  half  a  century 
afterwards.  Dr.  Hillyer  was  introduced  to  him  in  New- 
ark as  coming  from  Orange.  The  General  at  once 
spoke  of  his  pleasant  remembrances  of  Orange,  and 
asked :  "Is  the  old  gentleman  Chapman  yet  alive ? " 
and  alluded  to  his  visit  to  him  during  the  war. 


I.  During  his  pastorate  he  made  a  missionary  tour  into  the  wilds  of  Sussex 
County.  In  passing  through  the  forest  he  was  chased  by  a  bear,  which 
evidently  intended  to  make  an  attack  upon  him.  Finding  that  he  could  not 
escape,  he  faced  the  beast  and  defended  himself  by  raising  his  voice  to 
its  utmost  power.  Whether  he  preached  to  him  upon  his  inalienable  right  to 
freedom,  which  was  to  him  a  favorite  topic,  or  on  some  other  inspiring  theme, 
the  tradition  does  not  inform  us.  His  enemy  showed  the  effect  upon  him  by 
discreetly  retreating. 


Pluck  of  Saimtel  Harrison.  1 79 

PLUCK    OF   SAMUEL   HAEKISOIT. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  township  were  possessed  of 
more  or  less  silver  plate,  which,  together  with  their 
silver  money,  they  were  careful  to  conceal  and  thus 
to  save  from  plunder. 

The  house  of  Aaron  Harrison,  on  the  Valley  Road, 
situated  on  the  corner  of  what  is  now  Lakeside  Ave- 
nue, was  visited  by  the  red-coats.  The  family  being 
forewarned  of  their  approach,  had  tied  over  the  moun- 
tain, taking  their  valuables,  so  far  as  they  were  able. 
Samuel  Harrison,  a  bachelor  uncle  of  Aaron,  remained 
alone  in  the  house.  The  raiders  came,  as  expected, 
and  demanded  silver.  He  replied  that  he  should  not 
give  it  up.  They  threatened  to  shoot  him,  suiting 
their  threatening  action  to  their  word.  "Well,"  said 
he,  "it  don't  matter  much  to  me  whether  I  die  now, 
or  at  some  other  time.  You  may  shoot  me,  if  you 
please."  The  robbers  left  him,  and  the  silver  dollars 
which  he  had  buried  in  the  swamp  were  saved.  They 
were  hoarded  still,  and  after  his  death  the  sum,  not 
an  inconsiderable  one,  was  finally  invested  in  the  stock 
of  the  Orange  Bank  when  it  was  organized. 

JOHN  DUEAND  EEPAIES  WASHINGTON'S  FIELD-GLASS. 

When  General  Washington  had  his  headquarters 
at  Morristown,  he  expressed  his  great  regret  to  a  group 
of  friends  that  he  had  broken,  or  otherwise  injured, 
one  of  the  lenses  of  his  field-glass.  As  it  couM  not 
be  repaired  without  sending  it  to  Philadelphia,  he 
would  be  deprived  of  its  use  for  many  days. 

One  of  the  company  said  that  he  knew  of  an  ingen- 
ious artisan  at  the  foot  of  the  Short  Hills,  which  is 
not  an  hour's  ride  from  Morristown,  who,  he  thought, 
could  repair  it,  and  offered  to  go  and  see  him.  The 
General  gladly  accepted  the  proposal,  and  the  instru- 


i8o  History  of  the  Oranges. 

ment  was  taken  to  Jolm  Durand,  tlie  grandfather  of 
the  distinguished  artist,  Asher  B.  Durand,  lately 'de- 
ceased. The  old  ancestral  homestead  was  an  hundred 
feet,  more  or  less,  south  of  the  late  residence  of  Asher, 
which  he  built  for  himself,  and  where  he  spent  the 
last  years  of  his  life. 

John  Durand  was  an  ingenious  worker  in  fine  brass 
and  iron  work,  making  himself  a  necessity  among  the 
people  of  the  Mountain  in  repairing  watches,  clocks, 
locks,  and  other  work  requiring  delicate  and  intelligent 
skill.  The  field-glass  was  placed  in  his  hands,  with 
the  inquiry  whether  he  could  put  it  in  repair.  Upon 
examining  it,  he  replied  that  he  thought  he  could. 
"How  long  will  you  want  to  make  it  perfect?" 
"Not  long;  you  can  have  it  to-morrow."  Within  a 
day  or  two  thereafter,  Washington  rode  down  with 
his  friend  through  the  Short  Hills  to  the  artisan's 
house.  He  found  that  the  valued  instrument  had  been 
put  in  good  condition;  "better,"  as  he  declared, 
"than  it  ever  was  before." 

After  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Orange  had 
received  its  first  charter,  Rev.  Mr.  Chapman  was  re- 
quested to  prepare  a  device  for  a  corporate  seal.  Upon 
presenting  one  satisfactory  to  the  Trustees,  they  voted 
that  Mr.  Durand  be  requested  to  execute  the  work. 
His  bill  for  the  same,  paid  January  23d,  1787,  was 
sixteen  shillings.     The  same  seal  is  still  in  use. 

WHISKEY   LANE. 

In  the  time  of  the  war  this  was  a  path  or  lane,  twenty 
or  thirty  feet  wide,  which  led  from  the  highway  be- 
tween Newark  and  the  Mountain,  to  the  houses  of 
Caleb  Baldwin  on  its  west  side  and  Matthias  Dodd  on 
its  east.  It  is  spoken  of  by  that  name  in  conveyan- 
ces as  late  as  1840.     About  ten  years  after  that  date, 


Whiskey  Lane. 


i»i 


by  a  vote  of  the  neighborhood,  it  was  widened  to  fifty 
feet,  carried  through  to  Forest  Street,  and  named 
Grrove  street,  from  its  passing  through  a  pleasant  grove. 
Its  original  name  is  historic.  During  the  war  Jona- 
than Sayer,  a  merchant  of  IS'ewark,  had  placed  in  his 
storehouse,  on  the  Stone  Dock,  a  considerable  quantity 
of  cider  whiskey.  Fearing  that  it  might  be  plundered, 
he  removed  it  for  safe  keeping  to  an  empty  barn  be- 
longing to  Caleb  Baldwin,  on  the  west  side  of  the  lane. 
The  barrels  were  deposited  in  a  bay  of  the  barn  and 
covered  with  salt  hay,  but  not  so  deep  as  to  conceal 
them.  On  a  certain  occasion  a  small  company  of  light- 
horse,  with  a  band  of  Hessian  soldiers,  encamped  for 
the  night  on  the  property  of  Mr.  Dodd,  which  was  op- 
posite the  barn.  In  the  morning  it  was  found  that 
the  whole  company  of  footmen  were  drunk.  An  in- 
vestigation revealed  the  cause.  The  soldiers  were  pun- 
ished for  their  misconduct,  and  many  of  the  barrels 
were  staved  and  the  liquor  lost ;  though  much  re- 
mained. The  owner  thereupon  abandoned  aU  further 
care  of  it.  It  came  to  be  regarded  in  the  neighbor- 
hood as  common  property,  and  open  to  all  who  might 
wish  to  replenish  their  jugs  and  canteens.  The  road 
thus  became  known  as  Whiskey  Lane.  In  1814,  the 
barn  was  torn  down. 

In  1845,  the  present  owner  of  the  Dodd  property,  a 
grandson  of  Matthias  Dodd,  in  removing  a  stone  wall 
on  its  front  line,  opj)osite  the  barn,  found  an  old 
sword,  much  corroded  by  long  exposure,  which,  being 
cleaned,  revealed  the  name  of  a  Hessian  colonel.  It 
is  now  in  the  museum  of  the  New  Jersey  Historical 
Society — probably  a  memorial  of  the  night  of  debauch 
which  we  have  described. 


1 82  History  of  the  Oranges. 

JEMIMA   CUNDICT. 

The  momentous  events  of  the  War  of  Independence, 
to  some  of  which  we  have  briefly  referred,  lose  none 
of  their  grandeur  when  illustrated  by  an  insight  into 
the  homes  of  the  people,  and  a  knowledge  of  their 
reflections  upon  the  passing  scenes. 

We  have  had  occasion  before  to  draw  upon  Jemima 
Cundict's  diary  for  some  important  facts  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Newark  Mountains.  It  is  a  homely  record, 
by  a  young  girl,  but  none  the  less  illustrative  of  what 

she  saw  and  heard.  We  now  propose  to  give  a  few 
extracts  from  her  book  ;  the  most  of  them  relating  to 
the  war.     She  says  : 

HER  BOOK. 

"  Monday  Aug.  24th'ye  1772.  This  day  I  am  18  years  old.  The 
Lord  has  been  so  merciful  to  me  as  to  spare  me  so  long  when  I 
have  been  sinning  against  him  dayly  sins  without  number." 

"Saterday  October  first  1774.  It  Seams  we  have  troublesome 
times  a  coming,  for  there  is  great  Disturbance  abroad  in  the  earth, 
&  they  say  it  is  tea  thats  caused  it.  So  then  if  they  will  Quarrel 
about  such  a  trifling  thing  as  that,  what  must  we  expect  But  war ; 
&  I  think  or  at  Least  fear  it  will  be  so." 

This  was  written  within  a  month  after  the  meeting 
at  Philadelphia,  of  a  Congress  of  the  delegates  of 
eleven  Colonies,  which  agreed  upon  a  Declaration  of 
Rights,  wherein  were  recited  the  several  acts  infring- 
ing and  violating  them.  The  repeal  of  these  acts  was 
considered  to  be  essential  to  the  restoration  of  har- 
mony between  Great  Britain  and  the  Colonies. 


X        /• 


f^a     /y/  ^r  9^^^  J?^^  . 


./^ 


FROM  JEMIMA    CUNDICT'S    DIARY.     THURSDAY,  OCTOBER-1774. 


Jemhna  Cundict's  Book.  183 

"A  fast  Day.  I  went  with  my  Cousins  to  hear  Mr.  Green,  1  & 
the  words  of  his  Text  was :  the  race  Not  always  to  Swift,  Nor 
battle  to  the  Strong. 

*  *  * 

"  Monday,  which  was  Called  Training  Day.  I  Rode  with  my  Dear 
father  Down  to  See  them  train,  there  Being  Several  Companyes 
met  together.  I  thought  It  would  Be  a  mournful!  Sight  to  See,  if 
they  had  Been  fighting  in  earnest,  &  how  Soon  they  will  be  Called 
forth  to  the  field  of  war  we  Cannot  tell,  for  by  What  we  Can  hear 
the  Quarrels  are  not  Like  to  be  made  up  Without  bloodshed.  I 
have  Jest  Now  heard  Say  that  All  hopes  of  Conciliation  Between 
Briten  &  her  Colonies  are  at  an  end,  for  Both  the  King  &  his  Par- 
liament have  announced  our  Destruction ;  fleets  and  armies  are 
Prepareing  with  utmost  dilegince  for  that  Purpose." 

*  *  * 

The  battle  of  Lexington  occurred  on  April  19tli,  1775. 
It  was  not  long  before  its  echoes  were  reHected  from 
the  Newark  Mountains. 

"April  23d,  as  every  Day  Brings  New  Troubles,  so  this  Day 
Brings  News  that  yesterday  very  early  in  the  morning  They  Began 
to  fight  at  Boston :  the  regulars  We  hear  Shot  first  there ;  they 
kill'i  30  of  our  men.    A  hundred  &  50  of  the  Regulars. 

*  *  * 

"  Monday  May  first  [1775,]  this  Day  I  think  is  A  Day  of  mourn- 
ing, we  have  Word  Come  that  the  fleet  is  Coming  into  New- 
York  also,  &  to  Day  the  Men  of  our  Town  is  to  have  a  general 
meeting,  to  Conclude  upon  measures  Which  may  Be  most  Proper 
to  Be  taken  ;  they  have  chosen  men  to  act  for  them,  &  I  hope  the 
Lord  will  give  them  Wisdom  to  Conduct  wisely  &  Prudently  In  all 
Matters." 

We  make  a  long  leap  from  May,  1775,  to  May,  1776, 
and  resume  our  extracts. 

"May  the  17,  1776.  it  Was  fast  all  over  the  Continent;  &  this 
Was   Mr.   Chapman's  Text   on   that  Day,     O  thou  that   hearest 


I.  Rev.   Jacob  Green,  of  Hanover,  four  miles  from  the  writer's  home. 


184  History  of  theLOranges. 

Prayer,  unto  the  Shall  all  flesh  come.    Iniquities  Prevail  against 

me:  55  Psalm. 

1)1  *  * 

"August  the  4th,  [1776.]  Did  Mr.  Chapman  Preach  his  fare- 
well Sermon,  &  is  Gone  out  Chaplain  in  the  army.  His  text  on 
that  Day  was  In  the  13  Chapter  of  Corinthians,  11  verse:  finally 
Brethren  farewell;  Be  Perfect,  be  of  good  Comfort,  be  of  one 
[mind]  Live  in  Peace,  «&  the  God  of  Peace  Shall  Be  with  you : 

2  Corinthians. 

*  *  * 

"  August  the  6th.  It  Was  fast,  &  Mr.  Chapman  Came  Home, 
&  Preached  to  us  that  Day ;  the  Words  was  in  Joel,  the  2  Chapter, 
the  12,  13  &  14th  verses. 

*  *  * 

"August  the  i6th.  Then  Died  Jared  freeman,  he  was  taken 
Sick  at  newyork  among  the  Sogers,  &  was  brought  home,  &  Died 

Soon  After. 

*  «  >ti 

"  September,  1776.  We  hear  News  from  ourarmyattrentingue  [?] 

and  Several  of  them  we  hear  is   Dead  Since  there  Departure. 

Benjamin  Canfield  &  Stevan  Morriss.    David  Lins  Died  with  the 

Camp  Disorder,  &  William  acorn  we  hear  was  Killed  by  the  ingins  : 

Jabez  Freeman  the  Son  of  the  Late  Diseast  John  Freeman  is  Dead 

also.     Sias  Heady  Died  up  there  with  Sickness. 

"When  we  are  at  home  we  think  our  Selves  Secure 
But  at  home  or  abroad  we  are  never  Shure 
"When  or  What  our  end  is  to  Be  — 
This  in  vewing  others  we  Dayly  may  See." 

About  this  time  she  gives  the  names  of  many  others 
who  had  died  ;  some  in  the  service,  and  more  by  the 
dysentery  and  small  pox,  which  were  epidemic  in  the 
township.  The  time  of  this  part  of  her  record  was  co- 
incident with  the  battles  of  Long  Island,  Harlem  and 

White  Plains. 

*  *  * 

"September  ye  12,  1777.  on  friday  there  Was  an  alarm,  our 
Militia  was  Called.  The  Regulars  Come  over  into  elesabeth  town. 
Where  they  had  a  Brush  With  a  Small  Party  of  our  People ;  then 


Jemima  Cundicfs  Book.  i  85 

marched  Quietly  up  to  Newark  ;  &  took  all  the  Cattle  they  Could, 
there  was  five  of  the  milita  [of]  Newark  they  killd  Samuel  Crane, 
&  took  Zadock  &  Allen  heady  &  Samuel  freeman  Prisnors.  one 
out  of  five  run  &  escapt.  They  went  Directly  up  to  Second  River, 
&  on  Saterday  morning  march  uptowords  wadsesson.  our  People 
atackted  there,  Where  They  had  a  Smart  Scurmage.  Some  of  our 
people  got  wounded  there ;  but  I  Do  Not  Learn  that  any  was  killed. 
there  was  Several  Killed  of  the  regulars,  but  the  Number  is  yet 
unascertained. 

>K  *  * 

"  Desember  the  i8th.  Set  a  part  for  a  Day  of  thankgiving  & 
Praise  to  almity  God ;  it  was  a  misty  Day,  &  I  Suppose  you 
may  Say  I  was  Glad  of  any  excuse,  for  I  Did  Not  go  to  meet- 
ing. But  our  people  went,  &  this  Was  the  text,  Jeremiah  the 
9  Chapter  &  23d  &  24  Verses. 

*  *  ♦ 

"  Desember  y«  26.  Our  People  took  three  green  Coats,  l  &  they 
Swore  they  See  Benjamin  Williams  over  upon  Statenisland,  &c. 
So  up  on  that  they  Sent  a  file  of  men  and  fecth  him  Amediately 
Down  to  Newark,  Where  he  is  to  be  kept  In  Close  Confinement 
untill  further  examination." 

Jemima  Cundict  was  tlie  third  child  of  Daniel  Cun- 
dict  and  Rnth,  his  wife,  the  daughter  of  Samuel  Harri- 
son (2).  Her  father,  a  leading  citizen,  and  a  Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel in  the  Revolutionary  Army,  was  the  eldest 
son  of  Samuel  Cundict,  who  lirst  located  lands  in  the 
Second  Valley,  between  the  First  and  Second  Moun- 
tains. The  latter  built  his  home  on  the  highway  be- 
tween Orange  and  Swinefield.  It  stands  to  this  day 
in  the  same  place,  upon  the  corner  where  the  Sec- 
ond Valley  Road  crosses  the  highway.  The  German 
Church  is  on  the  corner  opposite.  The  front  part  of 
the  old  house  is  now  used  as  a  small  store ;  back  of 


I.  Loyalist  troops.  To  distinguish  them  from  the  British  regulars,  they 
wore  a  uniform  of  green  coats  faced  with  white,  with  cocked  hats,  with  broad 
white  binding  around  them. 


1 86  History  of  the  Oranges. 

wMcli  is  the  kitchen  of  an  annex  building  of  more 
recent  construction.  Here  Jemima  was  born  on  Au- 
gust 24,  1754.  Her  diary,  kept  from  1772  to  1778,  is 
of  considerable  value,  illustrating  as  it  does  the  inci- 
dents of  the  time,  the  methods  of  household  life,  the 
sports  and  enjoyments  of  the  young  people,  the  epi- 
demics of  disease  and  their  fatality,  the  religious  priv- 
ileges of  the  neighborhood,  and  the  state  of  the  public 
mind.  She  had  an  intelligent  api:)reciation  of  events, 
a  keen  sense  of  the  ridiculous,  and  a  fine  vein  of  hu- 
mor, chastened  by  a  devout  Christian  habit  of  thought. 
Her  chirography  is  good ;  her  book  learning  was  too 
limited  for  elegance  of  style,  and  the  first  English 
dictionary,  published  in  England  one  year  after  her 
birth,  had  not  yet  reached  the  schools  in  the  l^ewark 
Mountains.  She  wrote  better  than  she  knew.  Her 
record  is  a  valuable  legacy  to  those  who  have  come 
after.  From  the  number  of  her  suitors,  and  from 
various  incidents  recorded  by  her  with  reflections  in- 
tended for  no  other  eye  than  her  own,  we  infer  that 
she  was  possessed  of  unusual  personal  attractions. 

The  diary  closes  in  1778.  In  that  year  she  married 
Major  Aaron  Harrison.  He  was  of  good  estate  and 
lived  to  old  age,  respected  and  honored.  Both  of 
them  were  grandchildren  of  Samuel  Harrison  (2) ;  one 
in  the  paternal  and  the  other  in  the  maternal  line. 
The  young  wife  died  within  a  year  after  her  marriage, 
leaving  a  son,  a  few  days  old.  He  was  named  Ira,  and 
lived  about  ten  years.  By  a  second  marriage,  Aaron 
Harrison  had  three  sons  and  one  daughter.  They 
are  all  deceased  but  one.  Ira  Barrison  was  named 
after  the  child  of  his  father's  first  love.  He  now,  at 
93,  in  the  golden  years  of  old  age,  receives  the  rever- 
ent respect  and  love  due  to  those  who  in  their  day 
have  served  well  their  God  and  their  generation. 


Samuel  Harrison.  187 

A  time-worn  monumental  inscription  in  tlie  old 
graveyard  reads : 

.  "  In  memory  of 

Jemima,  wife  of 

Aaron   Harrison, 

who  died  Nov.  14,  1779,  in  the 

24i^  year  of  her  age." 

We  draw  one  more  entry  from  the  diary : 

"  1776  Sunday  Sept.  17.  Then  Departed  this  life  Grand  father 
Harrison  aged  Ninety  three  years."  1 

SAMUEL   HAERISON. 

References  to  Samuel  Harrison  (2)  and  his  settle- 
ment at  the  Mountain  have  appeared  in  the  progress 
of  this  history.  He  became  during  his  long  life  at 
the  Mountain  perha^Ds  the  most  useful,  enterprising 

and  influential  man  of  the  region.  His  account-book 
gives  evidence  of  his  ability  as  a  man  of  business,  and 
of  the  confidence  reposed  in  him  by  the  people  as  their 
agent  in  the  execution  of  their  affairs. 

He  was  a  large  landholder,  continually  adding  to 
his  acres  as  opportunity  offered.  It  used  to  be  said  of 
him  that  "if  Samuel  Harrison  should  get  all  the  land 
on  the  earth  he  would  still  seek  for  a  bit  of  the  moon  for 
a  potato  patch."  He  built  the  first  saw-mill  at  the 
Mountain,  we  know  not  how  early.  His  account-book 
shows  charges  for  sawing  in  1727,  which  was  less  than 
ten  years  after  he  became  a  settler  there.  A  fulling 
mill  built  and  owned  by  him  was  in  operation  in  1734. 
The  former  mill  was  located  on  Wigwam  brook,  where 
Cleveland  Street  crosses  it ;  the  latter  mill  was  on  the 


I.   His  tombstone  gives  September  20th,  as  the  day  of  his  death. 


1 88  History  of  the    Oranges. 

same  stream,  where  it  is  now  bridged  to  Park  Street. 
He  had  a  cider-mill  in  1744  ;  and  charged  for  cider  of 
his  own  production,  also  for  the  use  of  the  press  in 
making  it  for  others.  He  also  had  a  shop  for  repairing 
carts,  ploughs  and  other  farm  tools  ;  charges  for  such 
work  being  frequent.  One  charge  reads  :  ' '  Amos 
Williams  Jr  to  a  cofen  for  your  child  £00,  03,  00." 

In  1743  he  was  commissioned  a  magistrate.  It  ap- 
pears, by  several  entries  in  his  account-book,  that  he 
was  acting  as  a  justice  of  the  peace,  at  the  same  time 
that  he  was  running  the  saw- mill.  On  a  blank  page 
is  given  the  form  of  a  bond  for  the  payment  of  "cur- 
ant  money  of  this  provence  "  ;  in  which  the  obligor  is 
described  as  a  "yeoman,"  and  the  obligee  as  "Samuel 
Harrison,  Esquier."  The  account  against  Azariah 
Crane  shows  charges  not  only  for  fulling  cloth  and 
dyeing  a  coat,  but  also  for  a  "  sumons,  7d,"  and  for  a 
"judgment,  lOd,"  and  for  " administring  an  oath, 
4d."  And  Thomas  Day,  who  evidently  was  a  believer 
in  the  advantage  of  "  many  witnesses,"  was  charged 
with  "four  Supeneys,  2s.  4d."  A  lawyer  will  laugh 
to  see  the  tables  turned  upon  poor  Samuel  John,  the 
"plaintive"  in  one  suit,  who  "confest  judgment  for 
thirty-six  shillings,  with  coste. ' '  Philip  Commens  was, 
in  another  case,  punished  by  a  judgment  for  the  large 
sum  of  one  shilling  and  eleven  pence.  And  in  several 
instances  judgment  was  rendered  generally  for  the 
"plaintive,"  without  mention  of  any  amount.  He 
branded  horses  and  cattle  in  the  manner  prescribed  by 
law,  sailed  a  periauger,  named  John  Harrison,  to  New 
York  and  neighboring  places.  Charges  for  doctoring 
horses  were  not  infrequent  in  his  book.  Loans  of 
money  to  sundry  persons  are,  at  divers  times,  record- 
ed. The  contract  heretofore  noticed  for  war  sup- 
plies, ^  his  visits  to  New  England,  New  York  and  else- 

I.  See  page  65. 


Samuel  Harrison. 


189 


where,  for  the  common  good,  and  his  agency  in  pro- 
moting the  building  of  the  second  meeting-honse  and 
parsonage,  exhibit  an  energy  and  versatility  of  char- 
acter very  remarkable.  His  account-book,  which  was 
kept  up  until  1766,  was  also  used  for  recording  the 
te.xts  of  the  preacher  on  Sabbath  days,  giving  evi- 
dence of  a  devout  habit  of  thought.  He  made  a  pro- 
fession of  his  faith  in  Christ,  on  April  11,  1762,  being 
then  in  his  eightieth  year. 

He  left  a  numerous  posterity ;  a  very  large  propor- 
tion of  whom  have  inherited  his  personal  virtues,  his 
worldly  success,  and  his  zeal  for  the  best  welfare  of 
his  town  and  the  Church  of  Christ. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

REV.    JEDIDIAH   CHAPMAN". 

BEFORE  THE  WAR  OF  THE  REVOLUTION. 

THE  second  pastor  of  the  Mountain  Society  died  in 
1762;  the  year  in  which  the  French  War  was 
ended.  For  four  years  thereafter  the  church  remained 
without  a  pastor,  but  at  last  the  people  became  restless 
and  impatient.  The  importance  of  the  "society  in  the 
Synod  made  the  selection  of  a  successor  a  serious  ques- 
tion, not  only  for  the  congregation  itself,  but  also  for 
the  neighboring  clergy.  All  were  agreed  upon  one 
point,  however,  and  that  was  that  he  should  be  a  young 
man,  of  full  strength  and  vigor  of  body  and  intellect. 
There  was  more  difference  of  opinion  as  to  his  theolog- 
ical views,  because  then,  as  now,  the  learned  doctors 
were  not  at  harmony  among  themselves,  and  then,  as 
now,  it  was  not  easy  to  decide  who  were  sound,  and 
who  unsound,  in  their  interpretations  of  Scripture. 

In  the  Bellamy  Correspondence,  preserved  among  the 
collections  of  the  Presbyterian  Historical  Society  of 
Philadelphia,  is  a  letter  from  Mr.  McWhorter  to  Dr. 
Bellamy,  dated  December  23,  1763,  and  written  at  the 
request  of  the  Presbytery,  in  behalf  of  our  church  at 
the  Newark  Mountains.  In  it  Mr.  McWhorter  says  : 
*'Ihope,  sir,  you'll  recommend  them  to  some  young 


Rev.  Jedidiah  Chapman.  191 

man  whom  you  esteem  for  his  knowledge  of  the  truth  ; 
and  don't  send  us  any  of  your  Antinomians^  or  Armin- 
ians,  or  Sandemanians .  AVe  hear  you  have  several 
such  in  New  England."  Soon  after,  and  indeed  in  the 
same  month,  Mr.  Joseph  M.  White  wrote  from  Dan- 
bury,  Conn. ,  to  the  same  divine,  notifying  him  of  the 
vacancy  in  the  Mountain  Church.  He  says  :  "In  that 
country,  they  insist  very  much  on  a  man's  being  a 
good  speaker,  and  they  hate  the  New  England  tone,  as 
they  call  it.  They  insist  likewise  upon  one  who  is  apt 
to  be  familiar.  But  most  of  all,  'tis  necessary  that  a 
man  be  a  man  of  religious  and  good  jDrinciples,  in  order 
to  be  useful  among  them.  They  seem  to  be  a  kind  and 
courteous  people,  and  willing  to  support  the  minis- 
try."! 

It  was  not  until  1766,  that  the  society  was  successful 
in  securing  a  pastor.  He  was  the  Rev.  Jedidiah  Chajj- 
man.     From'a  letter  of  Rev.  James  Caldwell,  of  Eliz- 

abethtown,  it 
^^^    ^  appears    that 

n(     '-;^C:i€<^i^-l^^        Mr.  Chapman 
(y         ^  was  examined 

by  the  Presbytery  for  ordination,  and  received  parts 
of  trial ;  and  that  his  examination  was  satisfac- 
tory and  well  pleasing  to  the  body.  2  The  date  of  his 
ordination  and  installation  is  written  by  himself,  in  a 
manuscript  record  in  the  iDOSsession  of  this  author,  as 
follows : 


1.  Rev.  Joseph  Bellamy  was,  at  this  time,  in  the  prime  of  his  life,  and  one 
of  the  ablest  divines  in  America  ;  conspicuous  as  a  teacher  of  theology,  and 
for  his  method  of  preparing  young  men  for  the  work  of  the  ministry.  He 
was  also  eminent  for  his  eloquence,  for  his  success  as  a  preacher,  and  the 
soundness  of  his  teachings  in  his  published  writings.     He  died  in  1790. 

2.  Hoyt's  History  of  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Orange,  N.  J.,  p.  114. 


1 92  History  of  the  Oranges. 

"July  ye  22.  1766.  I,  Jedidiah  Chapman,  by  ye  will  of  God 
took  on  me  the  Solemn  Pastoral  Charge  of  ye  Church  and  Con- 
gregation of  ye  people  of  Newark  Mountains." 

When  the  new  pastor  began  his  work  at  the  Moun- 
tain, he  found  a  compactly  organized  church.  He  was 
welcomed  by  a  board  of  six  Elders.  Three  of  these 
were,  probably,  the  same  Joseph  Peck,  Joseph  Riggs 
and  John  Smith,  who  had  been  chosen  at  the  organ- 
ization of  the  society.  The  others,  namely :  Josiah 
Crane,  Bethuel  Pierson  and  Amos  Baldwin,  had  been 
^-^        ^        elected  on  February 

year  of  Mr.  Smith's 
ministry.  On  the  same  occasion,  Elder  John  Smith 
was  elected  to  the  Diaconate,  to  serve  as  an  associate 
with  Samuel  Freeman.  The  record,  in  the  handwrit- 
ing of  the  pastor,  is  still  preserved.     It  reads : 

"Tuesday,  Feb.  9,  1762,  Upon  a  Lecture,  the  members  of  this 
Church  being  generally  convened  by  previous  notice  given  for  that 
Purpose,  they  proceed  to  choose  Elder  John  Smith  a  Deacon,  and 
Josiah  Crane,  Bethuel  Pierson  and  Amos  Baldwin  to  serve  as 
Elders  in  this  Church,  who,  after  they  had  first  consented  to  comply 
with  the  Desire  and  Choice  of  the  church  were  Solemnly  recom- 
mended to  the  Grace  of  God  by  a  Prayer  for  the  Services  to  which 
they  had  been  respectively  Elected." 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  that  the  expression  of 
"Pastors  and  Elders,"  in  the  same  manuscript  of  Mr. 
Smith' s,  first  occurs  under  the  date  of  May,  1758. 

Mr.  Chapman  came  to  the  parish  about  eighty  years 
after  the  first  settlement.  The  deer  yet  roamed  the 
mountain  heights,  the  frequent  howl  of  the  wolf  was 
still  heard,  the  catamount  remained  to  seek  its  prey  in 
the  thickets  of  the  forest,  the  bear  was  seen  occasion- 
ally in  the  open  fields,  and  the  rattlesnake  was  always 
on  the  alert  for  the  unwary  intruder.    The  farm  lands 


Rev.  Jedidiah  Chapman.  193 

were  well  cultivated,  and  were  remunerative.  The 
temporary  liouses  of  logs  had  long  before  been  ex- 
changed for  homes  of  taste  and  household  comfort. 
Mr.  Chapman  was  installed  pastor,  about  four  months 
after  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act.  The  intense  pop- 
ular excitement  and  discontent,  caused  by  the  attempts 
of  the  British  Ministry  to  enforce  it,  were  somewhat 
allayed.  We  can  readily  believe  that  the  prospect  of 
once  more  receiving  the  ministrations  of  a  faithful 
pastor,  was  a  source  of  hapi)iness  to  the  people.  The 
season  of  the  year  was  propitious  for  the  attendance 
of  the  widely-scattered  members  of  the  parish  upon 
his  installation  services. 

One  may  easily  imagine  their  march  to  the  meeting- 
house, beginning  in  the  early  hours  of  that  July  morn- 
ing. The  Harrisons  and  Williamses,  from  the  north 
corner ;  the  Cranes  from  Cranetown  ;  the  Dods  from 
Rattlesnake  Plain ;  the  Wards,  and  Baldwins,  and 
Harrisons,  from  AVardsesson  ;  the  Canfields,  Pecks, 
Muns  and  Heddens,  from  the  line  of  the  highway  to  the 
river ;  the  Camps,  Balls,  Riggses,  Freemans,  Browns, 
Lindsleys  and  Piersons,  from  Camptown,  Stony  Brook 
and  Chestnut  Hill ;  the  latter,  as  they  passed  through 
Scotland  Road,  being  joined  by  the  Smiths  and  Og- 
dens.  To  these  add  the  tribes  of  Pierson,  Williams 
and  Condit,  all  from  over  the  Mountain,  coming  down 
by  the  highway  and  the  Christian's  Path;  with  the 
tribes  of  Ward  and  Harrison  from  Horseneck,  by  the 
Swinefield  Road  ;  either  on  horseback  or  in  carts,  (they 
had  no  wagons  at  that  time,)  but  the  greater  number 
on  foot ;  all  moving  with  one  purpose  towards  the 
house  of  Grod,  with  its  silent  belfry,  in  the  highway. 

We  do  not  know  who  officiated  at  the  installation 
services.  Messrs.  McWhorter,  of  Newark,  and  Cald- 
13 


194  History  of  the  Oranges. 

well,  of  Elizabethtown,  were  active  agents  in  obtain- 
ing the  new  minister,  and  they,  with  Jacob  G-reen,  of 
Hanover,  were  ever  afterwards  among  his  warmest 
friends.  We  doubt  not  that  the  cocked  hat  of  each 
of  them  found  its  place  upon  the  wooden  pegs  on  the 
wall  above  the  pulpit. 

It  is  reasonable  to  infer  that,  in  the  service  of  song 
on  that  eventful  day.  Watts'  Psalmody  took  the  place 
of  the  old  metrical  versions  which  were  in  use  at 
the  formation  of  the  church.  We  know  that  Watts' 
Psalms  and  Hymns  had  been  steadily  growing  in  favor 
with  all  religious  bodies  since  1741,  when  the  book 
was  first  published  in  Philadelphia  by  Franklin.  It 
was  advertised  for  sale  in  the  New  York  Weekly 
Post  Boy,  July  25,  1743,  and  had  become  popular  in 
1749,  as  appears  by  an  advertisement  in  the  same 
paper,  on  July  25th  of  that  year,  which  reads  thus  : 

"  The  Sunday  Evening  Lectures  being  begun  in  the  Presbyterian 
meeting  in  the  city,  as  was  usual  before  its  reparation,  where  Dr. 
Watts'  hymns  are  used,  this  may  serve  to  notify  that  the  said 
hymns  are  to  be  sold  by  the  Printer  hereof,  price  2s.  6d.  single,  or 
24s.  a  dozen.  The  Psalms  of  David  imitated  in  the  language  of 
the  new  [old]  Testament  are  also  sold  by  the  Printer  hereof  at  the 
same  rate." 

The  Rev.  Caleb  Smith  had  taken  great  delight  in 
their  lyrical  beauty.  On  the  morning  before  his  death 
he  called  his  family  around  him,  and  after  having  his 
little  son  placed  in  his  arms,  and  with  his  enfeeble 
hand  resting  upon  the  child' s  head,  he  invoked  for  him 
the  divine  protection  and  blessing.  Then,  at  his  re- 
quest, his  wife  sang  the  last  four  verses  of  the  17th  of 
Watts'  psalms,  beginning  with  the  third  stanza  : 

"What  sinners  value,  I  resign  ;" 

and  ending  with  the  stanza  beginning : 

"  My  flesh  shall  slumber  in  the  ground." 


Rev.  Jedidiah  Chapman.  195 

In  1763,  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia 
gave  permission  to  the  churches  to  use  the  collection, 
if  they  so  desired.  Jemima  Cundict's  diary,  in  1772, 
has  many  quotations  from  Watts,  thereby  testifying 
that  his  lyrics  were,  at  that  time,  familiar  to  the  peo- 
ple of  this  parish. 

The  salary  of  Mr.  Chapman  was  fixed  at  £130,  proc- 
lamation money,  or  about  $330.  It  was  raised,  as  in 
the  case  of  Mr.  Smith,  by  levying  a  rate  upon  the 
property  holders  ;  the  same  to  be  collected  by  the 
pastor  himself. 

Tlie  minister  of  religion,  in  the  early  history  of  the 
New  England  parishes,  was  a  leader  in  all  matters  per- 
taining to  the  public  weal.  He  was  cheerfully  re- 
cognized as  "such  by  the  people.  AVith  attainments 
above  those  of  the  masses,  he  was  relied  on  to  look 
after  the  education  of  the  young,  to  settle  all  minor 
questions  and  disputes  among  the  adults  of  the  neigh- 
borhood, and  to  act  as  a  lawyer  in  the  drawing  of 
deeds,  wills,  agreements,  etc.  A  book  of  legal  forms, 
together  with  copies  of  Blackstone  on  Principles  of 
Law,  and  Boerhaave  on  Medicine,  were  not  uncommon 
volumes  in  the  libraries  of  the  early  clergy.  When 
Mr.  Chapman  was  settled,  this  condition  of  things  was 
somewhat  modified;  but,  in  his  public  relations,  he 
held  much  the  same  place.  It  was  the  acknowledged 
function  of  the  minister,  by  his  influence  and  teach- 
ing, to  mould  public  sentiment  in  civil  as  well  as  in 
spiritual  concerns.  Our  young  pastor  was  endowed 
with  a  native  energy  of  character,  strong  convictions, 
and  a  steadfastness  of  purpose,  which  fitted  him  at 
once  to  assume  the  responsibilities  of  his  position. 
The  parish,  when  he  came  to  it,  had  been  four  years 
without  a  spiritual  guide.  During  these  years,  the 
minds  of  the  people  had  been  distracted  by  the  op- 


196  History  of  the  Oranges. 

pressive  acts  of  the  British  Parliament,  He  found  the 
spiritual  condition  of  his  church  in  a  low  state ;  and 
the  events  which  were  coincident  with,  and  which  im- 
mediately followed,  his  installation,  gave  no  promise 
of  an  auspicious  adjustment  of  affairs.  The  clouds 
that  had  been  gathering  on  the  political  horizon, 
were  beginning  to  overcast  the  heavens.  They  broke, 
ten  years  thereafter,  in  open  war  and  revolution. 

During  this  time,  he  was  not  unmindful  of  his 
mission  as  a  minister  of  Christ.  His  interest  in  his 
calling  is  illustrated,  when,  in  1770,  he  wrote  to  Dr. 
Bellamy:  "It  is  a  time  of  carelessness  among  us, 
about  the  great  things  of  religion."  He  would  not 
have  written  thus  to  his  friend  and  instructor,  if  he 
had  not  a  fixed  purpose  to  preach  the  Gospel,  how- 
ever discouraging  its  reception  might  be  to  him  who 
proclaimed  it.  His  Christian  zeal  is  further  manifest- 
ed in  the  same  letter,  when  he  says:-  "There  is  a 
general  awakening  in  our  college;"  and  when  he  re- 
marks that  he  had  spent  a  week  there  by  invitation, 
during  which  time  he  was  wholly  occupied  in  preach- 
ing, talking  privately  with  the  students,  and  meeting 
them  in  "their  praying  societies."  In  another  letter, 
written  in  1772,  to  the  same  gentleman,  he  again  speaks 
of  a  revival  of  religion  at  Elizabethtown  and  at  "our 
college,"  which  "has  been  general ;"  and  alludes  to  a 
very  pressing  invitation  to  visit  Princeton,  which  he 
says  he  intends  "to  comply  with."  He  had  been  four 
years  in  the  parish  when  he  first  visited  the  college. 
That  he  was  invited  there  shows  the  reputation  he  had 
acquired  as  a  preacher,  and  also  how  cordially  he 
felt  towards  the  institution  itself.  He  was  an  alumnus 
of  Yale;  yet,  he  wrote  of  "our  college"  as  that  to 
which  he  had  given  his  heart.     During  all  the  years  of 


Rev.  Jedidiah   Chapman.  197 

his  residence  in  New  Jersey,  he  was  its  zealous  patron, 
and,  in  1795,  was  elected  one  of  its  trustees.  ^ 

Mr.  Chapman  was  a  lineal  descendant,  in  the  fifth 
generation,  of  Robert  Chapman,  who  emigrated  to 
America  in  1635,  and  settled  at  Saybrook,  Ct.,  where 
he  purchased  lands  of  the  Indians.  These  lands  have 
been  held  by  his  posterity  through  the  succeeding  gen- 
erations. The  head  of  each  tribe  bore  the  name  of 
Eobert.  Thus,  Robert  Chapman  (4)  was  the  father  of 
Jedidiah  (5),  who  was  born  September  27, 1741,  at  East 
Haddam,  Ct.  ;  where  his  father,  a  son  of  Robert  (3), 
had  been  born,  and  had  been  one  of  the  first  proprietors 
of  the  town.  The  mother  of  Jedidiah  was  Hester, 
daughter  of  John  Kirtland,  Junior.  She  married,  first. 
Major  Jedidiah  Chapman,  of  West  Brook ;  and,  sec- 
ondly, Robert  Chapman  (4).  Jedidiah,  the  subject  of 
this  notice,  was  educated  at  Yale  College,  whence  he 
received  his  degree  in  1762.  After  two  years  of  theo- 
logical study,  he  was  licensed  to  preach  the  Gospel, 
and,  in  his  twenty-fifth  year,  was  ordained  by  Presby- 
tery, Saybrook  had  already  sent  two  of  its  sons  to 
the  Mountain  Society;  both  having  been  trained  as 
Congregationalists.  In  1766,  Mr.  Chapman,  with  his 
Saybrook  traditions,  and  of  the  like  ecclesiastical 
tendencies,  came  to  occupy  the  same  field  of  pas- 
toral work.  His  subsequent  history,  from  his  ordina- 
tion by  Presbytery  to  the  close  of  his  life,  in  1813,  was 
distinguished  by  his  devotion  to  the  extension  and 
prosperity  of  the  Presbyterian  system. 

About  two  years  after  Mr.  Chapman  was  settled  over 
the  Mountain  Society,  he  married  Blanche  Smith,  the 
daughter  of  a  respectable  family  in  New  England.     By 


r.   Proceedings  of  the  New  Jersey  Historical  Society,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  174. 


198  History  of  the  Oranges. 

her  he  had  three  children,  namely :  William  Smith,  ^ 
Robert  Hett,  ^  and  John  Hobart.  The  last  named  died 
in  infancy.  Mrs.  Chapman  died,  November  21,  1773, 
and  her  earthly  remains  are  buried  in  the  old  grave- 
yard. He  married  again,  (probably  in  1777)  the  second 
wife  being  Margaretta,  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Peter 
LeConte,  ^  of  Middletown,  in  Freehold  township,  Mon- 
mouth county,  N.  J.  Her  first  born  son  was  called 
Peter  LeConte.  * 

From  the  very  beginning  of  Mr.  Chapman' s  pastor- 
ate, he  was  an  uncompromising  defender  of  Colonial 
rights.  When  war  came,  he  espoused  the  patriot  cause 
with  his  whole  soul.  He  preached  Rebellion  in  the 
pulpit,  and  taught  it  from  house  to  house.  No 
portion  of  his  large  parish  was  forgotten.     Every  fire- 


1.  William  Smith  Chapman  was  born  in  1769.  He  married  twice  :  first, 
Abby,  a  daughter  of  Nathaniel  Beach,  of  Newark,  N.  J.  ;  and,  second,  her 
sister  Sarah.  The  first  wife,  together  with  her  two  daughters,  were  killed  at 
Amsterdam,  N.  Y.,  in  1832,  in  a  run-away  accident,  by  being  thrown  from 
a  bridge.     He  had  issue  also  by  the  second  marriage. 

2.  Robert  Hett  Chapman  was  born  in  1771  ;  was  graduated  at  Princeton 
College  in  1789  ;  was  licensed  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  and  Philadel- 
phia in  1793  :  and  was  settled  at  Rahway,  N.  J.  He  married  Hannah,  a 
daughter  of  Isaac  Amett,  of  Elizabethtown,  and  by  her  had  twelve  children. 
He  died  in  1833.  One  of  his  sons,  also  called  Robert  Hett,  was  a  prom- 
inent clergyman  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  South  ;  and  died  at 
Asheville,  N.  C,  on  October  30,  1884. 

3.  Peter  LeConte  was  a  Huguenot,  who  settled  in  New  Jersey  as  early  as 
1734.  He  married  Valeria  Eaton,  a  daughter  of  John  Eaton,  one  of  the 
first  settlers  of  Eatontown,  in  the  same  State.  The  Doctor  died  January  29, 
1768.  His  wife  survived  him  for  twenty  years,  and,  during  the  principal 
part  of  that  time,  resided  with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Chapman,  at  Orange 
When  she  died,  in  1788,  she  was  interred  in  the  parish  graveyard. 

4.  This  son  dropped  the  name  of  Chapman,  when  he  was  a  young  man, 
and  was  afterwards  known  by  his  baptismal  name  only.  Family  tradition 
says  that  he  did  this  in  order  to  oblige  a  young  woman  whom  he  wished  to 
marry,  and  who  did  not  find  favor  with  the  Chapmans.  He  was  graduated 
at  Princeton  in  1797  ;  became  eminent  as  a  lawyer  ;  and  for  many  years  was 
an  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Ovid,  N.  Y.  He  had  several  chil- 
dren ;  one  of  whom  became  a  clergyman,  and  died  in  1847.  Some  of  the 
daughters,  if  not  all  of  thorn,  removed  to  and  settled  in  Illinois. 


Rev.  Jedidiah  Chapjnan.  199 

side  was  quickened  by  his  stirring  words  of  "  Resist- 
ance to  Oppression."  He  took  frequent  counsel  with 
McWhorter  of  Newark,  Caldwell  of  Elizabeth,  and 
Green  of  Hanover,  as  to  the  best  methods  of  meeting 
the  crisis.  His  parish  abounded  with  tories  ;  the  more 
numerous  because  it  was  practically  neutral  ground, 
contiguous  to  the  enemy' s  lines,  and  open  to  the  ma- 
rauding bands  of  hostile  troops.  The  whigs  were  at 
all  times  in  danger  of  robbery  and  death.  Chapman, 
himself,  was  a  marked  man.  He  was  oftentimes  com- 
pelled to  flee  from  his  home  for  safety.  More  than 
once  he  served  as  a  volunteer  chaplain  in  the  army. 
In  our  extracts  from  Jemima  Cundict's  diary  will  be 
found  a  record  of  a  farewell  sermon  to  his  people,  on 
the  occasion  of  one  departure  for  military  service. 
He  was  not  regularly  commissioned,  as  were  two  of  his 
coadjutors,  McWhorter  and  Caldwell.  His  ringing 
voice  and  his  eloquent  appeals  were  none  the  less  effi- 
cient, however,  in  encouraging  the  soldiers  to  heroic 
deeds.  McWhorter  left  his  home  in  Newark,  to  go 
with  Washington  and  his  army,  when  they  were  pur- 
sued by  Cornwallis ;  and  together  with  one  of  his  breth- 
ren, Rev.  Mr.  Vanarsdale,  of  Sj)ringfield,  followed  the 
retreat  of  the  army  to  the  other  side  of  the  Delaware. 
By  invitation  of  the  commander-in-chief,  he  was  pres- 
ent and  assisted  in  the  council  of  war  which  decided 
the  memorable  re-crossing  of  the  Delaware. 

In  1779,  by  a  vote  of  the  Town,  Messrs.  McWhorter, 
Chapman  and  others,  were  appointed  "a  Committee 
to  give  such  instructions  to  our  Legislatures  in  this 
Country  from  time  to  time  as  Occasions  may  require."  ^ 

It  is  a  tradition,  and  quite  authentic,  that  the  Moun- 
tain pastor  was  a  leading  agent  in  locating  on  the  top 


I.  Newark  Town  Records,  p.  159. 


20o  History  of  the  Oranges. 

of  the  first  Mountain,  and  within  his  parish,  the  three 
signal  stations  which  were  to  give  notice  to  the  inhab- 
itants of  Morris  County  and  to  the  military  post  at  Mor- 
ristown,  of  the  approach  of  danger  from  the  enemy. 
One  was  near  to,  and  a  little  north  of,  the  South  Or- 
ange and  Morristown  highway;  another,  at  Orange, 
on  the  top  of  the  Mountain,  in  a  direct  line  with  Main 
Street.  Until  within  a  few  years,  a  tall  tree  marked 
the  spot.  It  has  been  cut  down  in  the  process  of  im- 
provements. The  third  was  a  little  north  of  the  Bloom- 
field  and  Caldwell  highway,  opposite  Squiretown,  now 
North  Montclair. 

Mr.  Chapman,  with  his  wife,  came  to  the  Newark 
Mountains  in  his  early  manhood.  At  last,  the  war 
was  ended.  He  had  served  the  parish  faithfully  for 
thirty-four  years.  He  had  buried  the  fathers  of  the 
settlement,  who  welcomed  him  at  his  coming,  and 
had  given  him  the  sympathy  and  counsel  of  their 
matured  Christian  life.  He  had  suffered,  in  common 
with  his  people,  all  the  perils  and  privations  of  the 
war ;  and  had  united  with  them  in  thanksgivings  to 
God  for  its  successful  termination.  Now  there  stood 
around  him  the  young  men  and  women,  upon  whom 
he  had  placed  the  seal  of  the  covenant  in  their  infancy, 
and  for  whom  he  cherished  the  affection  of  a  spiritual 
father. 

The  changed  social  relations  in  this  parish  at  the 
close  of  the  war,  were  not  pleasant  for  the  veteran  min- 
ister to  contemplate,  and  hindered  his  success  as  a 
teacher  and  guide.  The  animosities  of  the  conflict, 
had  alienated  him  from  some  of  his  people.  The  new 
political  issues  which  had  arisen,  created  new  lines  of 
division.  Mr.  Chapman  was  a  Federalist.  His  love 
of  country  prompted  him  to  be  as  ardent  in  his  new 
political  belief,  as  he  had  been  in  the  patriotism  of  his 


Rev.  Jedidiah  Chapman.  201 

earlier  years.  In  the  bitterness  of  party  spirit,  which 
has  had  no  parallel  in  our  subsequent  history  as  a 
nation,  estrangements  between  families,  neighbors  and 
friends  were  of  every  day  occurrence.  That  Mr.  Chap- 
man was  earnest  and  unyielding  in  his  politics,  cannot 
be  doubted.  His  whole  life  in  the  past  had  shown  that 
he  would  follow  the  Hight  as  he  understood  it,  in  the 
fear  of  Grod,  and  that  he  would  not  turn  aside  through 
any  fear  of  man. 

On  a  certain  parade  day  of  the  Orange  Battalion,  ^ 
under  the  command  of  Major  Amos  Harrison,  the  son 
of  Mr.  Chapman  was  standing  in  front  of  Munn's 
Tavern,  (now  the  Park  House,)  wearing  the  Federal 
cockade.  A  certain  Republican,  named  Condit,  who 
happened  to  be  somewhat  excited  by  liquor,  knocked 
off  young  Chapman  s  hat.  An  altercation  ensued,  and 
a  few  blows  were  exchanged  between  the  two  men. 
The  affair  started  a  great  discussion  throughout  the 
parish,  and,  when  Sunday  came,  the  minister  preached 
about  it.  Major  Harrison  was  a  deacon  in  the  church, 
one  of  the  minister's  tried  friends,  and  withal  a  strong 
Republican.  He  sought  an  interview  with  his  pastor, 
and  told  him  in  plain  English  that  he  must  "  Stop,  or 
leave  the  parish."  How  the  old  dominie  received 
it,  we  know  not ;  but  the  threat  seems  to  indicate  that 
his  removal  was  an  event  which  had  even  then  begun 
to  be  considered.     That  a  majority  of  the  parish  was 

I.  After  the  peace,  the  martial  spirit  was  still  fostered  among  the  younger 
men,  by  the  voluntary  organization  of  a  battalion  of  light  horse,  of  seven 
companies,  consisting  of  thirty  or  forty  men  each.  It  was  made  up  of  the 
sons  of  the  farmers  in  Essex  County,  who  furnished  their  own  uniforms  and 
equipments  at  a  cost  of  over  one  hundred  dollars  each  ;  a  large  sum  in  those 
days.  It  was  maintained  with  much  spirit  till  after  the  War  of  1 812.  At 
that  time  it  was  ready  for  service.  Aaron  Harrison  was  then  Major.  Jesse 
Williams  was  the  last  who  held  that  office.  Edward  Truman  Hillyer,  a  son 
of  Rev.  Dr.  Asa  Hillyer,  was  the  last  Captain  of  the  Orange  Company 
before  it  was  disbanded. 


202  History  of  the  Oranges. 

in  sympathy  with  him,  appears  from  the  fact  that,  in 
1799,  his  salary  was  increased,  and  efficient  measures 
adopted  to  secure  its  collection.  This  occurred  not- 
withstanding the  formation,  in  the  year  before,  of  the 
church  in  Bloomlield,  with  fifty-nine  of  its  members 
drawn  from  the  old  parish. 

The  sermons  which  he  left  in  manuscript,  display 
a  clear  knowledge  of  Gospel  truth  and  a  logical  mind. 
They  are  pervaded  with  an  ardent  zeal  for  the  increase 
of  practical  Godliness  among  men.  The  formation  of 
two  new  societies  out  of  his  own  during  his  ministry, 
and  the  active  part  he  took  in  their  formation,  illus- 
trate his  desire  to  extend  the  bounds  of  Zion,  even 
although  it  should  diminish  the  strength  of  his  own 
parish. 

The  times  in  which  he  served  the  church  in  New 
Jersey,  were  not  favorable  to  religious  progress.  It 
was  emphatically  a  period  of  seed-sowing — not  of  in- 
gathering. We  cannot  doubt  that  the  great  spiritual 
harvests,  which  were  reaped  here  in  the  early  part  of 
the  present  century,  were  the  matured  fruit  of  the 
seed  sown  by  Chapman,  watered  by  his  tears,  and 
vitalized  by  his  prayers.  That  fruit  remains  down  to 
our  own  day. 

In  1800,  Mr.  Chapman  received  a  call  from  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  to  assume 
the  superintendence  of  its  mission  work  in  Western 
New  York.  He  was  present  in  Philadelphia  in  1788, 
when  the  Assembly  was  first  organized,  and  he  preach- 
ed the  sermon  at  its  oiDening,  as  the  Moderator  of  the 
last  Synod,  which  at  that  time  represented  the  whole 
body  of  Presbyterians  in  the  United  States.  He  had 
then  a  reputation  for  zeal  and  ability  in  the  execu- 
tion of  the  work  of  the  Assembly,  which,  probably, 
led  to  the  call  above  mentioned,  and  which  he  ac- 


Rev.  Jedidiah  Chapman.  203 

cepted.  He  resigned  his  cliarge  in  Orange  in  the 
month  of  August,  1800,  and  left  to  enter,  at  the  age  of 
threescore  years,  upon  untried  mission  work  in  the 
western  wilds.  It  is  not  surprising  that  he  said  to  a 
friend,  1  who  accompanied  him  as  far  as  New  York, 
where  he  was  to  begin'  his  western  journey :  "I  can- 
not bear  to  leave  my  old  church ;' '  nor  are  we  sur- 
prised at  the  reply:  "Well,  Mr.  Chapman,  go  back 
with  me  ;  we  shall  be  glad  to  have  you  stay  with  us." 
His  wavering  answer  to  this  hearty  and  affectionate 
aj)peal  was,  no  doubt,  in  accord  with  the  designs  of  a 
wise  Providence :  ' '  No — no — it  has  gone  too  far,  now. ' ' 

Our  plan  does  not  admit  of  an  extended  notice  of 
the  last  twelve  years  of  our  old  minister's  life.  When 
he  left  Orange,  he  was  commissioned  to  supervise  the 
missionary  work  of  the  General  Assembly,  in  a  part  of 
the  Military  Tract  in  the  then  wilderness  of  Western 
New  York.  This  tract  embraced  1,680,000  acres,  now 
constituting  seven  counties,  viz  :  Onondaga,  Cayuga, 
Seneca,  Cortland,  the  most  of  Tompkins,  Oswego  and 
Wayne.  ^ 

Rev.  Mr.  Chapman,  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  York, 
and  the  Rev.  John  Lindsley,  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Albany,  were  the  first  ministers  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  who  came  into  Western  New  York  as  perman- 
ent residents,  and  for  several  years  they  were  the  only 
ministers  there  of  that  denomination. 

Mr.  Chapman  was  directed  to  take  up  his  residence 


1.  James  Crane. 

2.  On  July  25,  1782,  the  State  of  New  York  passed  an  act  setting  apart  a 
certain  portion  of  its  lands  for  the  payment  of  military  bounties  to  the 
soldiers  of  the  State  who  had  served  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution.  The 
section  so  set  apart  was  called  the  "  Military  Tract."  It  was  surveyed  into 
twenty-eight  townships,  each  containing  one  hundred  lots  of  si.x  hundred 
acres  each.  Every  private  soldier  and  non-commissioned  officer  of  the  State 
troops  had  one  lot.     The  officers  more,  according  to  rank. 


204  History  of  the  Oranges. 

in  some  place  convenient  for  accomplishing  the  As- 
sembly's plans;  to  make  himself  acquainted  with 
the  whole  field,  and  report  to  the  Assembly ;  as  a  mis- 
sionary bishop,  to  perform  annually  six  months'  labor 
on  a  tour  through  the  destitute  settlements,  organiz- 
ing churches  and  preaching  the  Gospel.  During  the 
remaining  six  months  of  the  year,  he  was  expected  to 
minister  to  some  congregation  where  he  might  obtain 
compensation  for  his  services.  Thus  he  continued  in, 
and  ministered  to,  the  church  at  Greneva,  N.  Y.,  (which 
he  is  believed  to  have  organized  in  1800,)  until  1812, 
when,  in  connection  with  the  Rev.  Henry  Axtel,  he 
was  installed  its  collegiate  pastor.  This  relation  was 
dissolved  by  his  decease,  ten  months  thereafter. 

He  died.  May  22d,  1813.  On  the  Sabbath  previous 
to  his  departure,  he  preached  to  his  people  from 
II.  Tim.  iv :  7-8:  "I  have  fought  a  good  light,"  etc. 
He  was  seized  in  his  pulpit  with  the  sickness  which 
terminated  in  his  death,  in  the  52d  year  of  his  minis- 
try, and  at  the  age  of  72  years. 

Hotchkin,  in  his  memorial  sketch  of  Jedidiah  Chapman,  says  of 
him  :  "  He  was  an  active,  laborious  minister,  whether  engaged  in 
the  duties  of  the  pastor,  or  the  more  laborious  work  of  a  mission- 
ary in  the  wilderness.  *  *  *  He  was  permitted  to  see  the 
fruit  of  his  labor  in  the  conversion  of  souls  and  their  ingathering 
into  the  visible  folds  of  Christ.  *  *  *  j^g  ^as  a  man  of 
ardent  piety,  of  pure  morals,  urbane  in  his  manners,  sound  in  the 
faith,  instructive  in  his  preaching,  possessing  a  highly  cultivated 
mind  and  an  acceptable  mode  of  address.  *  *  *  j^  his  the- 
ological views  he  embraced  what,  at  that  day,  was  denominated 
the  system  of  the  New  School.  *  *  *  He  possessed  a  sound 
judgment,  and  stood  high  in  the  estimation  of  his  brethren. 
*  *  *  His  appointment  as  a  permanent  missionary,  with  a 
general  supervision  of  missionary  concerns,  is  highly  indicative  of 
the  confidence  placed  in  his  judgment,  integrity  and  diligence." 


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Rev.  Jedidiah  Chapman.  205 

Notes  of  a  Sermon  by  Rev.  Jedidiah  Chapman. 
Lords  Day  21  Nov.  1791.     Orange  Dale  P.  M. 

No.  9.  1 801. 
Geneva  14  Augst  1803. 
Text,  Isai.  32  :  8. 
I.     Describe  ye  liberal  man. 
II.     Shew  how  by  liberal  things  he  shall  stand. 
I  impt.     I.  Some  have  no  other  Idea  of  a  lib'  man  but  one  wo  is 
free  in  giving   away  his   mony  but  we  under  ye  Gospel  ought  to 
know  better. 

1.  The  lib'  considers  ye  universe  one  Family. 

2.  God  ye  great  parent  &  Head. 

3.  himself  &  fellow  Creatures  members. 

4.  The  Greatest  gen'  good  of  the  whole  the  common  Interest. 

5.  with  these  liberal  views  he  feels  his  soul  enlarged,  &  gives 
up  himself  &  all  to  promote  ye  gen'  cause  &c  and  serve  ye  common 
interest. 

thus  his  feelings  and  act"s  are  govern^  by  supreme  love  to  god 
&  universal  good  will  to  mankind, 
so  he  deviseth  liberal  things. 

thus  with  him  it  is  more  Blessed  to  give  than  to  receive. 
II.     Shew  how  by  liberal  things  he  shall  stand. 

1.  our  Text  affirms  it. 

2.  The  Apostles  reasoning  confirms  it.     i  Cor.  13  c  i. 

3.  All  the  promises  support  it. 

4.  It  is  impossible  y*^  ye  liberal  man  should  finally  fail. 

for  ye  cause  in  w^  he  is  engaged  and  where  his  Interest  lies  shall 
forever  stand. 

but  he  stands  not  of  debt,  merit  or  desert,  but  it  is  of  the  bound- 
less mercy  &  Grace  of  God  thro'  J.  X. 

We  learn  impt. 

1.  That  true  relig"  has  a  direct  Tendency  to  make  men  liberal. 

2.  That  a  person  has  no  more  of  True  relig"  than  he  has  of 
liberallity. 

3.  how  different  this  liberallity  f™  that  wc  is  carnal  and  selfish. 

4.  the  liberal  man  has  the  greatest  incourgement  in  ye  or  ys  life 
&  another. 


206 


History  of  the  Oranges. 


1768. 


Nov. 

23- 

16. 

June 

28. 

Aug. 

31- 

Nov. 

I. 

Ap. 

17- 

5.  We  see  w'  an   errant  fool,  w'  an   odious  wretch  y^  selfish 
man  is. 

6.  here   is  something  that  ye  natur  has  nothing  of  however 
generous. 

7.  here  wt  matter  of  shame  yt  professors  no  more  liberallity. 

Record  of  the  Mountain  Society  during  the  Pastorate 
OF  Rev.  Jedidiah  Chapman,  from  1766  to  1783,  inclusive. 

entered  into  covenant. 

1766.  Sep.        8.     Abigail,  wife  of  Job  Crane. 

Crane,  Rhoda,  w.  of  Stephen  Crane. 
Tompkins,  Sarah,  dau.  of  Obadiah. 
Cesar,  the  negro  servant  of  Elder  Pierson. 

1767.  June     28.     Baldwin,  Aaron,  and  wife. 
Freeman,  Joseph,  and  w. 
Baldwin,  Aaron,  Elizth  dau.  of. 
Crane,  Eleakim,  w.  of. 

"     Smith,  Joseph,  Jr.  Phebe,  w.  of. 
"      Harrison,  Jared,  and  w.  Hannah. 
"      Bostedo,  Sarah. 
"      Baldwin,  Josiah. 
Dec.  Soverill,  widow  Jane. 

Pierson,  Phebe,  w.  of  Dr.  Matthias. 

Camfield,  Mary. 

Williams,  Hannah. 
1774.     July      10.     Quimby,  Josiah,  w.  of. 

Jones,  James,  Hannah,  w.  of. 

Mun,  Phebe. 

Dod,  Moses. 

Baldwin,  Jonathan. 

Baldwin,  Eunice. 
Oct.      16.     Williams,  Sam'  w.  of. 

Jones,  Cornelius,  Joanna  w.  of.' 

Harrison,  Simeon,  Hannah  w.  of. 

Harrison  Isaac,  w.  of. 

Quimby,  Moses,  Mary  w.  of. 

Vincent,  Levi,  Mary  w.  of. 

Crane,  Timothy,  and  Sarah  his  w. 

Canfield,  Jos.,  Phebe  w.  of. 

Smith,  Hiram. 

Baldwin,  Simeon. 

Akin,  William. 


Rev.  Jedidiah  Chapman.  207 

Crane,  Eliz'h 

Harrison,  Phebe. 

Jones,  Phebe. 

Mun,  Abigail. 

Mun,  Sarah. 

Headden,  Mary. 

Gray,  Elizt^h- 

Coalman,  Mary. 

Crane,  Jonathan. 

Crane,  Rachael. 

Crane,  Matthias,  and  w.  Elizabeth. 
1776.     Feb.     23.     Lindsley,  Ebenezer,  w.  of. 

Crane,  Samuel. 

Bostedo,  Agnes. 

Ward,  Bethuel,  Hannah  w.  of. 
1783.     June      I.     Jacob  Callahan,  and  Rachel  wife,  joined  from 
Horse-neck. 
Sept.  Tomkins,  Job. 

Nov.  Bruen,  Timothy,  w.  of.  ) 

Bruen,  Charlotte,  their  daugh.  \ 

Crane,  Hannah,  w.  of  Joseph. 
Dec.     21.     Crane,  Joseph. 

David  Gardner,  1767,  John  Gilderslceve,  1767, 
Ebenezer  Hedden,  1767,  were  chh.  mem- 
bers, and  also  John  Jones,  in  1774. 

RECORD   OF    BAPTISMS    BY   MR.   CHAPMAN. 

1765.     Oct.      12.    Jared,  son  of  John  Peck. 

Rhoda,  dau.  Daniel  Riggs. 

Jane,  dau.  Timothy  Davis. 

Gershom,  son  widow  Martha  Williams, 
1767.     Jan.      18.     Sibel,  dau.  Djvid  Gardiner. 

Jane,  dau.  Arthur  Perry. 

Mary,  dau.  Elder  Crane. 

Nehemiah,  son  Timothy  Ward. 

Mary,  dau.  Silas  Baldwin. 

Jeptha,  son  Isaac  Dod. 

Rachael,  ) 

Phebe,     >  children  of  Joseph  Freeman. 

Samuel,  ) 
"         "      Lois,  dau.  Stephen  Crane. 
Nov.     15.     Lydia,  dau.  George  Parsonette. 

William,  son  John  Gray. 
Dec.      27.     Desire,  dau.  John  Freeman. 


Nov. 

16. 

Jan. 

18. 

Feb. 

1. 

Mar. 

29. 

May 

31- 

June 

7- 

" 

28. 

Aug. 

31- 

Mar. 

6. 

Ap. 

17. 

July 

24. 

Oct. 

2. 

" 

13- 

Dec. 

25. 

208  History  of  the  Oranges. 

1768.     Jan.      18.     EUzabeth,  j    ^^^^^  ^f  g^^j    j^^^ 
Amos,  son  William  Crane. 
iar"ah^'  [  ^aughrs  Joseph  Smith,  Jr. 
Mary,  dau.  David  Harrison. 

1768.  Oct.       2.     Zenas,  son  of  Richard  and  Elizabth  Harrison, 
Joanna,  dau.  Joseph  and  Phebe  Smith. 
Elizabeth,  dau.  Samuel  Dod. 

'•         ''       SaravT'  [   ^^"'   ^^  Phebe  and  D>-   Pierson. 

1769.  Jan.        I.     Caleb,  son  Samuel  Condit,  Jr. 
Phebe,  dau.  Nathaniel  and  Eunice  Ogden. 
Esther,  dau.  Jared  and  Hannah  Harrison. 
Elizabeth,  dau.  John  Peck. 
David,  son  Elihu  Pierson,  and  Elizabeth  d.  of 

Jeremiah  Martin. 
Josiah,  son  Eliakim  Crane. 
Phebe,  dau.  Arthur  Perry. 
Rachael,  dau,  John  Headden. 
Job,  son  Silas  Baldwin. 
Silvanus,  son  Timothy  Davis. 

EHzabeth   [  child"  Benjamin  Baldwin. 
Electa,  dau.  Aaron  Baldwin. 

1770.  Feb.     18.     Lidia,  dau.  Benj"  Mun. 
Jairus,  son  Isaac  Dod. 

Wm.  Smith,  son  of  Jedidiah  Chapman,  Pastor. 
Naomi,  dau.  Eunice  Cundit,  widow. 
Jeremiah,  son  Stephen  Crane. 
Jane,  )  children   of   Caesar,    Deac.   Pierson's 
Lois,  \      negro. 

Abigail,  d.  Timothy  Ward,  Junr. 
Elijah,  son  John  Freeman. 

1771.  Aug.    19.     Nehemiah,  son  Elder  Crane,  (Noah). 
Isaac,  son  Phebe,  wife  of  Matthias  Pierson. 
Samuel,  son  of  Samuel  and  Thankful  Crowel. 

1774.    Feb.     27.     Sarah,  dau.  of  Caleb  and  Rebecca  Baldw-in. 
Uzal,  son  Jonathan  and  Mary  Crane. 
Mary.  dau.  Joseph  and  Esther  Baldwin. 
Zenas,  son  Samuel  and  Mary  Crane. 
Rachael,  dau.  John  and  Hannah  Jones. 
Eunice,  dau.  Benjamin  Baldwin. 

Jos^eph,  [^°"'-^°''^^^"'"^^y' 


■' 

29. 

Feb. 

26. 

A  p. 

9- 

16. 

30- 

May 

14- 

June 

4- 

July 

2. 

9- 

Sep. 

3- 

Dec. 

6. 

Feb. 

18. 

Mar. 

4- 

25. 

May 

6. 

J3- 

27. 

July 

8. 

22. 

Aug. 

19. 

Sep. 

9- 

Dec. 

6. 

Feb. 

27. 

Mar. 

i3- 

26. 

Ap. 

I. 

July 

10. 

Aug.    12. 


Rev.  Jedidiah  Chap^nan.  209 

28.     Janne,  dau.  John  and  Elizabeth  Wright. 
Oct.     16.     Smith,  Hiram. 
Headden,  Mary. 
"      Children,  )  of  Hannah,  w.  of  Simeon 

names  not  given,  \      Harrison. 

Caleb      V  children  of  Mary,  w.  of  Moses 
Iotham,i      Q^i'nby. 
Child  ot  Mary,  w.  of  Levi  Vincent. 
23.     Abigail,  dau.  of  Matthias  and  Elizti>  Crane. 
30.     Phebe  and  )  ch^n  of  Phebe,  w.  of  Isaac 
others.     \      Harrison. 
Nov.  Naomi,  Samuel,  Matthias,  Nancy  and  Mary, 

the  children  of  Cornelius  Jones. 

1775.  Oct.  Mary,  dau.  of  Richard  Harrison. 

Nov.  Joanna,  dau.  of  Joseph  Baldwin. 

19.     Joanna,  ?    i  „    /  t  h,t 

lose  h     f  chn  of  Isaac  Mun. 

12.     Linus,    )  t  ^  u     T\  ^ 

Joseph,  [^°"^°^J°hnDod. 

26.     Katharine,        \  children  of 

and  Matthew,  \  Thomas  Williams,  Jr. 

30.     Amos,  son  of  Isaac  Harrison. 
Dec.     18.     Jane.  dau.  of  John  Freeman. 

1776.  April     7,     Isaac,  )    j^^^  g    j^     J  ^^j.^  ^j^j  p^^^j^^j^ 

ane,  >      u-       -t 
John.i       h'^^'^^- 

14.     Mary,  dau.  of Ward. 

21.     Martha,  dau.  of  Cornelius  Jones. 

May     19.     Prudence,  dau.  of  Daniel  Crowel. 

July     21.     Phebe,  dau.  David  Dod. 

Esther,  dau.  of  Levi  Vincent. 

28.     Samuel,  son  of  Samuel  Tomkins. 

Aug.     4.     Sarah,  dau.  Stephen  Crane. 

Sarah,  dau.  of  John  and  Elizabeth  Wright. 

Sep.  Nathaniel,  son  of  Thomas  Grant  of  New  York. 

Lydia,  dau.  Jonas  Crane. 

1779.    Jan.     17.     Stephen  Bradford,  son  of  Stephen  Crane. 

"      Abner,  son  of  Samuel  Dod. 

1781.    Sep.      2.     Robert,  son  of  Aaron  Dod, 

23.     Hannah,  dau.  of  Hannah  and  Simeon  Harrison. 

Bethuel,  son  of  Abigail  and  Zadoc  Baldwin. 

Oct.  Jesse,  son  of  Dorcas  and  Thomas  Williams,  Jr. 

Nov.    17.     Mary,  dau.  of  Phebe  and  Matthias  Pierson. 

Unis,  dau.  Richard  Harrison. 


3°- 

Ap. 

6. 

13- 

May 

i6. 

2IO  History  of  the  Oranges. 

1782.  Jan.    20.     Rhoda,  dau.  Erastus  Pierson. 

Hannah,  dau.  Bethuel  Ward. 
Stephen,  son  of  Ruth  and  John  Mun. 
Nov.  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  Samuel  and  Mary  Crane, 

of  Horseneck. 

1783.  Mar.    23.     Mary  Valeria,  dau.  of  Jedidiah  and   Margt 

Chapman. 

{f '"^^'   .       \  sons  of  Mr.  Conolly. 

Benjamin,   \  ■' 

Mary,  dau.  Zadoc  Hedden. 

Henry  Earl,  son  Sam^  Crowel. 

Elias,  son  of  Permenas  Riggs. 

23.     Hannah  Allen,  dau.  Joseph  Tomkins,  of 

Horseneck. 

June      I.     Nancy,      ^ 

Thomas,    I  children  of  Jacob  and  Rachael 

Phebe,       [       Gallahan. 

Cyrus,       J 

22.     Esther  Williams,  on  ac.  of  John  and  Mary 

Tichenor. 

Martha  Williams,  on  ac.  of  Jedidiah   Freeman 

and  his  wife. 

'•      Anna,  )  the  children  of  the  widow  Williams  on 

Silas,  \      her  account. 

July       6.     Timothy,  son  of  Timothy  and  Sarah  Ward. 

Sept.  {)°"„fei  ^"'  I  sons  of  Job  Tomkins. 

Dec.    14.     Hannah,  dau.  of  Jonathan  Baldwin. 

^'"     Nathaniel,  H°"'°^J°^^P^^'^"^- 
"      Nancy,      "| 

Thomas,   {^     j^jjj„  ^  ^^^^^  Qxzx^&. 
Jeptha,      j 
Hannah,  J 

1784.  Mar.    14.     Isaac,  son  of  John  and  Ruth  Mun. 
"        21.     Caleb,  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary  Baldwin. 


CHAPTER  X. 

AFTEE   THE  WAR — PEACE. 

TO  the  inhabitants  of  Great  Britain,  the  cessation  of 
hostilities  and  the  treaty  of  peace  were  welcome 
events.  Not  so  were  they  viewed  by  the  tories  in 
America,  who  had  indulged  their  hatred  toward  the 
land  of  their  birth,  and  had  given  aid  and  comfort  to 
its  enemy.  They  had  fattened  on  their  illegal  traffic 
outside  the  reiDublican  lines,  had  served  in  the  royal 
army,  had  been  flattered  by  promotion  to  posts  of 
honor,  and  had  fostered  their  ambition  for  higher  and 
more  permanent  rewards,  as  they  waited  with  assur- 
ance for  the  approaching  day  of  British  success.. 

In  September,  1781,  Prince  William  Henry,  .the 
third  son  of  George  III.,  a  midshipman  under  Ad- 
miral Digby,  arrived  in  the  Bay  of  New  York.  Being 
heir  to  the  throne,  he  was  an  object  of  intense  in- 
terest to  the  refugees,  ^  who  were  gathered  at  Fort  De- 
lancy,  on  Bergen  Neck.    On  October  1st,  1781,  (it  being 


I.  These  refugees  were  mostly  from  the  Newark  Mountain  region  and  that 
adjoining.  The  following  advertisement  appeared  on  December  23d,  1780, 
in  Rivington's  Gazette  :  "  All  Loyal  Refugees  that  are  in  want  of  employ- 
ment and  can  bring  proper  certificates  of  their  loyalty,  and  are  willing  to 
enter  themselves  under  Capt.  Thomas  Ward,  now  commanding  the  im- 
portant post  of  Bergen  Point,  will  meet  with  the  greatest  encouragement  by 
applying  to  Capt.  Homfrey,  at  the  sign  of  the  Ship,  corner  of  Fair  [Fulton] 
Street  and  Broadway."  This  Captain  (or  Major)  Thomas  Ward,  was  a 
noted,  blood-thirsty  tory,  from  the  Hackensack  district. 


2T2  History  of  the  Oranges. 

twenty  days  before  the  capture  of  Cornwallis  and  his 
army  at  Yorktown,)  in  behalf  of  the  motley  crew  gar- 
risoned at  Fort  Delancy,  Major  Thomas  Ward  and  his 
officers  presented  the  following  address  : 

"To  His  Royal  Highness,  Prince  William  Henry. 

"  We,  his  Majesty's  dutiful  and  most  loyal  subjects,  the  refugees 
stationed  on  Bergen  Neck,  beg  leave  to  address  your  Royal  High- 
ness (through  the  channel  of  our  commanding  officer,)  on  the 
satisfaction  that  is  visible  in  the  face  of  every  individual  belong- 
ing to  our  small  party,  at  so  distinguished  an  honor  paid  to  the 
loyal  inhabitants  of  this  continent  by  the  arrival  of  so  amiable  and 
distinguished  a  character  as  the  son  of  our  Royal  Sovereign. 

"The  measures  pursued  by  a  designing,  base  set  of  men  early 
in  this  unnatural  contest,  obliged  us  to  leave  our  habitations  and 
fly  for  safety  to  his  Majesty's  troops  ;  since  which  we  have  let  our 
persecutors  (who  meant  our  destruction,)  feel  the  effects  of  our 
resentment,  and  convince  them  that  we  contended  for  that  which 
every  man  at  the  risk  of  his  life  ought  to  defend. 

"  Therefore,  we  flatter  ourselves  that  your  Royal  Highness  is 
convinced  of  our  sincerity,  of  our  attachment  to  their  Majesties, 
and  the  Royal  progeny,  (which  we  are  always  ready  to  give  fresh 
proof  of,)  praying  for  that  day  when  rebellion  may  be  crushed  and 
peace  may  be  established  throughout  this  continent,  and  his 
Majesty's  standard  displayed  triumphant  by  land  and  sea.  May 
heaven  protect  your  Royal  Highness  in  time  of  danger,  and  per- 
mit you  to  return  crowned  with  the  laurels  of  victory  to  your 
Royal  Parents!"! 

About  one  year  after  this  brilliant  effusion,  Fort 
Delancy  was  evacuated. 

The  loss  of  population,  by  banishment  and  the  vol- 
untary exile  of  the  tory  element  to  the  British  domin- 
ions, was  less  a  cause  of  regret  to  the  people  of  East 
Jersey,  than  were  the  disturbing  effects  of  the  war 
upon  the  harmony  of  their  social  and  domestic  rela- 


T.  Winfield's  History  of  Hudson  County,  N.  J.,  p.  196, 


The  Mountain  Society.  213 

tions.  Discord  had  rent  asunder  and  destroyed  the 
happiness  of  families,  and  the  old-fashioned  inter- 
course between  neighbors  had  been  greatly  impaired. 
For  many  long  years,  the  terms  Wliig  and  Tory  were 
cherished  and  freely  used.  The  bitterness  descended 
to  the  children  who  were  bom  after  the  war.  In  their 
sports  and  games, — at  ball,  at  marbles,  at  snow- 
balling, and  in  the  construction  of  snow  forts  in 
winter,  they  grouped  themselves  according  to  the  tra- 
ditions of  their  fathers.  It  was  not  until  the  War  of 
1812,  that  the  old  animosities  gave  place  to  a  cordial 
unity  of  popular  sentiment. 

The  demoralizing  effects  of  the  seven  years'  conflict 
had  disturbed  the  economies  of  our  community  of 
thriving  farmers.  Moral  influences  had  lost  much 
of  their  jDower,  over  the  better  impulses  of  every  rank 
and  condition  of  men.  Removal  from  religious  and 
social  restraints,  neglect  of  the  Sabbath,  drunkenness, 
vice  and  immorality — the  bitter  dregs  of  all  war — pre- 
vailed in  every  neighborhood.  ' '  All  sorts  of  worldly 
amusements  absorbed  the  thoughts  of  the  young,  even 
in  the  most  respectable  and  religious  families."  But 
evidences  of  a  return  to  better  things  soon  began  to 
show  themselves.  Farming,  manufacturing,  and  aU 
religious  and  educational  interests  were  quickened 
into  activity,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  people 
of  the  Newark  Mountains  returned  with  vigor  and 
enthusiasm  to  the  cultivation  of  the  arts  of  peace. 

THE   MOUISTTAIN   SOCIETY. 

Inthe  first  year  of  peace  the  Mountain  Society,  which 
for  sixty-five  years  had  been  a  religious  body,  applied 
to  the  Assembly  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey  for  an 
act  of  incorporation.  It  was  granted  on  June  11, 1783. 
Joseph  Riggs,  Esq.,. John  Range,  Dr.  Matthias  Pier- 


214  History  of  the  Oranges. 

son,  Stephen  Harrison,  Jr.,  Samuel  Dod  and  John 
Dod,  were  thereby  appointed  ' '  Trustees  of  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Newark."  In  case  of  death, 
removal  or  other  incapacity  of  any  of  said  trustees, 
the  act  provided  that  the  vacancy,  thus  made,  should 
be  filled  by  such  person  or  persons  from  the  congre- 
^/-  ^  gation  of  the  church 

iL^tT^-Tl^lyZ-^J^L-jQ.^  as  the  minister,  eld- 

//  ers  and  deacons,  con- 

vened for  that  purpose,  should  choose.  It  also  pro- 
vided that  the  minister,  elders  and  deacons  should  have 
power,  if  they  deemed  it  proper  and  for  the  benefit  of 
the  congregation,  to  remove  and  displace  any  trustee 
or  trustees,  and  to  elect  and  choose  any  person  or 
persons,  to  supply  the  place  or  places  of  the  trustee 
or  trustees  so  removed.  The  act  also  provided  that 
the  trustees  to  be  apx^ointed  under  it,  and  their  suc- 
cessors, previous  to  entering  upon  their  office,  should 
take  and  subscribe  to  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
State,  prescribed  in  the  act  entitled  "An  act  for  the 
security  of  the  Government  of  New  Jersey,"  passed 
/I  ^~^  i'  the  nineteenth  of 
^(Z^^^^'^^^     ^^^   September,  1776, 

together  with  the 
oath  of  ofiice,  to  execute  the  trust  reposed  in  them, 
with  fidelity,  etc.  ^ 

The  power  vested  in  the  minister,  elders  and  dea- 
cons to  appoint  the  trustees  of  the  parish,  gave  great 
dissatisfaction  to  the  people,  whose  democratic  senti- 


I.  The  parish  records  show  the  "Oaths  of  Obligation  and  Allegiance," 
which  were  taken  by  the  Trustees,  at  their  first  meeting  in  1783,  after  the 
passage  of  the  act.  They  read  thus  :  "  I  do  solemnly  sware  that  I  do  not 
hold  my  self  Bound  to  bear  allegiance  to  the  King  of  Great  Britain  ;  I  do 
Solemly  Profess  and  Sware  that  I  do  and  will  bear  True  faith  and  allegiance 
to  the  Government  Established  in  this  State  under  the  Authority  of  the 
People." 


The  Church  at  Caldwell.  215 

ments  were  becoming  strengthened  as  the  new  order  of 
things  in  a  popular  government  was  working  out  its 
logical  result.  Upon  a  petition  to  the  Legislature, 
the  charter  was  amended  in  June,  1790,  making  "all 
regular  supporters  of  the  Gospel  in  said  congrega- 
tion," to  be  electors  in  the  choice  of  trustees;  the 
election  to  be  made  annually  on  the  second  Thursday 
in  April,  by  a  plurality  of  votes.  We  may  add,  \vith 
propriety,  that  the  time  for  holding  the  election  of 
trustees  was  changed,  in  1829,  to  the  first  day  of  Jan- 
uary, and  again,  in  1856,  to  the  second  Monday  in 
April,  of  each  year. 

THE   CHUECH   AT   CALDWELL. 

Horse  Neck  was  a  part  of  the  great  Indian  Pur- 
chase., made  about  1700;  amounting  in  all  to  13,500 
acres,  ^  and  lying  west  of  the  territory  granted  by  the 
Lords  Proprietors  in  the  Newark  xDatent.  It  contained, 
in  1716,  about  thirty-five  families.  The  majority  of 
the  people  there  "paid  little,  if  any,  regard  to  law, 
human  or  divine.  They  regarded  the  Sabbath  but  as 
a  day  of  sports.  *  *  *  ^  Horse-racing  and  cock- 
fighting  were  prevalent  pastimes."  In  their  inter- 
course with  the  Indians,  they  are  described  ' '  as  cor- 
rupting and  being  corrupted."  ^ 

It  was  not  uncommon  to  find  men  unable  to  write 
their  names.  They  lived  isolated,  in  rude  log  huts,  on 
mountain  paths,  by  springs,  or  wherever  they  could 
get  a  foothold ;  and  with  them  it  was  a  struggle  to 
provide  the  simplest  means  of  subsistence.  There  were 
some  among  these  rude  people  who  were  God-fearing ; 
many  of  them  were  descendants  from  a  pious  ancestry ; 
and  the  neighboring  ministers  who  occasionally  visited 

X.   Elizabethtown  Bill  in  Chancer)'. 

2.  Historical  Sketch,  by  Rev.  C.  T.  Berry. 


2i6  History  of  the  Oranges. 

and  preached  the  Gospel  to  them  in  their  homes,  in 
the  open  air,  and  in  barns,  found  some  hearts  open  to 
the  truth.  Darby,  of  Parsippany ;  Green,  of  Hanover ; 
Caldwell,  of  Elizabethtown ;  and  Chapman,  of  the 
Mountain  Society  ;  regarded  the  whole  region  as  mis- 
sionary ground.  1  About  1770,  the  fruits  of  these 
efforts  gradually  appeared.  Meetings  began  to  be 
held  on  the  Sabbath ;  and  if  a  minister  could  not  be 
had,  printed  sermons  were  read,  or  an  hour  was  occu- 
pied with  religious  conference  and  prayer.  Preaching 
and  other  regular  services  being  seldom  enjoyed,  those 
who  could  do  so  attended  the  exercises  at  the  meeting- 
house of  the  Mountain  Society. 

In  a  few  years,  an  effort  was  made  to  build  a  house  of 
worship  in  their  own  neighborhood,  and  the  enterprise 
was  begun  by  bringing  together  the  materials  for  the 
purpose ;  but  the  War  of  1776  arrested  the  work,  and 
the  timber  was  spoiled.  In  1779,  the  movement  was 
renewed,  as  appears  by  the  first  entry  (made  Febru- 
ary 20th,)  in  the  parish  records  of  the  "Presbyterian 
Congregation  of  Horse  Neck."  But  the  new  church 
did  not  flourish,  although  watched  over  by  Mr.  Chap- 
man, whose  labors  were  attended  with  a  revival  of  re- 
ligion ;  and  many  of  the  people,  professing  their  faith 
in  Christ,  became  members  of  the  Mountain  Society. 

On  December  3,  1784,  (after  the  war,)  the  Caldwell 
Church  began  its  ecclesiastical  existence.  After  a 
sermon  by  Mr.  Chapman,  forty  persons  subscribed  to 
a  declaration  of  belief,  as  holding  the  fundamental 
doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  and  entered  into  covenant 
as  a  Christian  Church.  ^ 

1.  Historical  Sketch,  by  Rev.  C.  T.  Berry. 

2.  The  declaration  and  covenant  were,  doubtless,  copied  by  Mr.  Chap- 
man from  the  form  then  in  use  in  his  own  church,  as  they  are  almost  wholly 
in  the  same  words  as  those  which  were  in  use  in  the  Orange  First  Church 
down  to  1859  ;  when,  during  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  James  Hoyt,  a  new  form 
was  adopted,  but  without  change  of  sentiment  and  belief. 


The  Church  at  Caldwell.  217 

The  church  was  constituted  Presbyterian,  and  elders 
and  deacons  were  elected. 

Like  many  other  churches  in  New  Jersey,  the  Cald- 
well Church  did  not  apply  for  a  charter  at  the  time  of  its 
formation,  but  the  Legislature,  upon  petition,  passed, 
on  March  16,  178G,  an  enabling  act,  which  authorized 
and  empowered  every  society  or  congregation  of  Chris- 
tians, of  whatever  creed,  entitled  to  protection  by  the 
laws  of  the  State,  to  meet  and  assemble  for  worship, 
and  to  preserve  its  organization  by  the  election  of 
trustees ;  and,  being  thus  constituted  as  a  body  politic 
and  corporate,  by  whatever  name  it  might  have  chosen, 
to  have  perpetual  succession,  with  all  the  privileges 
and  powers  of  corporations ;  provided,  however,  that 
the  body  should  consist  of  at  least  thirty  families, 
statedly  assembling  at  one  place  of  worship. 

By  accepting  the  terms  of  this  act,  the  long-strug- 
gling church  began  its  corporate  existence  in  1787,  as 
the  ''First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Caldwell."  1 

Three  years  elapsed  before  the  church  was  provided 
with  a  settled  pastor.  During  this  interval  it  was 
fostered  by  the  oversight  and  care  of  Pastors  Green, 
Chapman,  Jones  and  McWhorter,  of  the  parishes 
contiguous  thereto. 

The  Rev.  Stephen  Grover  was  installed  pastor,  June 
22d,  1788,  and  served  till  October,  1833.  He  died  in 
1836,  aged  77.  Among  his  successors  was  the  Rev. 
Richard  F.  Cleveland,  (1834-1840,)  who  was  the  father 
of  Grover  Cleveland,  one  of  the  Presidents  of  the 
United  States. 


I.  Caldwell  became  a  township,  in  1798  ;  it  being  formed  from  Newark 
and  Acquackanonk,  about  seven  miles  long  and  four  miles  wide.  The  name 
of  the  township  was  selected  in  honor  of  the  Rev.  James  Caldwell,  of  Eliz- 
abethtown. 


2i8  History  of  the  Oranges. 

THE   CHURCH   AT   BLOOMFIELD. 

The  secoud  enterprise  to  which  the  Mountain  Soci- 
ety contributed  from  its  membership,  was  at  Bloom- 
field.  For  more  than  a  century  the  settlers  there  had 
no  organized  church  of  their  own,  and  had  worshiped 
at  Newark  and  Orange.  Measures  for  a  new  organiza- 
tion were  begun  about  1794,  when  a  petition  was  pre- 
sented to  the  Presbytery,  asking  that  the  people  re- 
siding in  that  part  of  the  town  should  be  formed  into 
a  distinct  congregation,  as  the  "Third  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  township  of  Newark."  ^ 

The  Presbytery  advised  the  measure,  but  being 
doubtful  as  to  the  ability  of  the  petitioners  to  sustain 
a  stated  minister,  the  constitution  of  a  church  in  due 
form  did  not  take  place  till  June,  1798.  Mr.  Chapman 
being  commissioned  by  Presbytery  to  perfect  the  same, 
it  was  then  constituted  by  eighty-two  members  ;  fifty- 
nine  from  his  own  congregation,  and  twenty- three 
from  that  of  Newark.  Its  first  settled  pastor  was 
Rev.  Abel  Jackson,  who  served  for  eleven  years. 

THE   BAPTIST   CHURCH   AT   NOETHFIELD. 

In  Jemima  Cundict's  diary  (1772-1778,)  a  part  of 
which  is  transcribed  in  our  pages,  is  a  memorandum 
to  the  effect  that  "  Mr.  Runnels  preached  at  the  Moun- 
tain, and  that  two  persons,"  whom  she  names,  "were 
dipt."    It  is  significant  as  giving,  probably,  the  record 


I.  Rev.  Stephen  Dodd  says  that  the  congregation  never  seems  to  have 
adopted  the  name.  It  bore  for  a  short  time  the  name  of  the  "  Church  at 
Wardsesson,"  a  corruption  of  the  old  Indian  name  Watsessing.  At  a  meet- 
ing in  1796,  the  name  Wardsesson  was  dropped,  and  that  of  Bloomfield  was 
adopted,  in  consideration  of  the  generous  aid  rendered  it  by  Gen.  Joseph 
Bloomfield,  of  Burlington,  who  was  a  man  of  wealth,  and  who,  amid  their 
perplexities,  had  interested  himself  in  helping  them  in  the  construction  of  a 
suitable  building  for  the  worship  of  God. 


Baptist  Church  at  Northfield.         2  1 9 

of  the  first  missionary  effort  of  the  Baptists  in  the 
Newark  Mountains. 

This  missionary  was  the  Rev.  Reune  Runyon,  (Je- 
mima's spelling  was  phonetic,)  who  was  ordained  in 
Morristown  in  1772,  and  had  oversight  of  the  church 
there  till  1780.  ^  He  was  a  zealous  man,  and  success- 
ful in  promoting  the  Bai>tist  cause.  Edwards  says  of 
him,  "He  is  remarkable  for  dexterity  in  adminster- 
ing  baptism.  On  June  30,  1786,  a  gentleman  held  his 
watch  in  his  hand  till  he  had  baptised  thirty  in  tifty- 
eight  minutes."  He  was  pastor  of  the  church  in 
Piscataway  from  1783,  for  nearly  thirty  years.  =» 

In  the  year  1768,  a  Baptist  meeting-house  was  built 
at  Lyons  Farms.  Obed  Dunham,  who  lived  at  Canoe 
Brook,  now  Northlield,  beyond  the  Second  Mountain, 
invited  Mr.  Runyon  and  others  to  preach  at  his  house. 
They  interested  the  people  to  such  a  degree  that  nine 
persons  were  baptised,  all  of  whom  joined  the  Lyons 
Farms  congregation.  They  soon  found  it  inconven- 
ient to  attend  religious  services  in  a  church  so  far  from 
their  homes,  and  for  this  reason  took  theii-  dismissions 
from  that  church,  and  resolved  to  organize  a  new  so- 
ciety. On  April  9,  1786,  eleven  persons,  including 
Dunham  and  his  wife,  were  constituted  as  a  church. 
In  three  years,  though  the  population  was  sparse,  the 
membership  had  increased  to  thirty-tive.  Morgan  Ed- 
wards says  that  Moses  Edwards,  who  was  one  of  the 
eleven  that  were  first  baptised  and  who  was  made  a 
deacon,  was  "remarkable  for  what  is  called  in  Scot- 
land 'second  sight.'  He  foresaw  who  should  fall  at 
Springfield  the  day  before  the  skirmish,  and  went  to 
the  persons  and  bid  them  prepare  for  death.     He  f ore- 


1.  Morgan  Edwards'  Notes  on  the  History  of  the  Baptists  in  New  Jersey. 

2.  Ibid. 


220  History  of  the   Oranges. 

saw  the  soldier  who  stole  his  knapsack  and  the  place 
where  he  hid  it,  and  went  to  the  officer  of  the  guard 
to  complain.  The  officer  drew  out  his  soldiers.  Ed- 
wards challenged  the  thief.  The  thief  confessed  the 
act,  and  the  knapsack  was  found  in  the  place  where 
Edwards  said  it  would  be.  There  are  many  instances 
and  credible,  from  the  character  of  the  visionary  and 
attestations  of  others."* 

In  the  early  days  of  the  church  at  Canoe  Brook,  the 
meetings  were  held  in  the  old  stone  school-house, 
which  occupied  the  site  of  the  present  school  building. 
A  few  years  later,  the  society  bought  a  house  with  a 
lot  of  four  and  a  half  acres,  and  fitted  up  the  old 
building  as  a  place  of  worship,  by  removing  the  upper 
floor,  and  erecting  a  gallery.  For  the  first  year,  it  was 
served  by  temporary  preachers.  Though  the  congre- 
gation had  increased  in  numbers,  it  was  not  yet  able 
to  sux3port  a  settled  minister.  After  1791,  it  was  report- 
ed to  the  New  York  Association  as  a  destitute  church, 
and  was  occasionally  supplied  through  its  aid.  Its 
first  deacon,  one  of  its  original  members,  was  licensed 
to  preach  in  1798.  He  had  no  learning  and  few  books, 
but  possessed  "eminent  natural  gifts."  From  Mon- 
day morning  until  Saturday  night  he  worked  upon 
his  farm,  or  wrought  at  his  trade  as  a  blacksmith ; 
but  on  Sunday  he  entered  the  pulpit,  without  written 
notes,  and  often  without  previous  study.  The  opened 
Bible  suggested,  at  the  moment,  the  text  and  the 
theme  of  his  discourse.  He  received  no  stated  salary. 
The  voluntary  contributions  made  by  his  people  helped 
him  to  eke  out  a  living.     In  these  relations  with  the 


I.  We  record  this  extract  less  to  accept  the  honest  convictions  of  the  good 
narrator  upon  the  supernatural,  than  to  show  that  the  little  handful  of  Bap- 
tists at  Canoe  Brook,  like  the  great  numbers  of  their  sect  throughout  East 
Jersey,  were  among  the  fighting  patriots  of  the  Revolution. 


Baptist  Church  at  Northfield.  221 

church  he  remained  until  1815,  when  he  determined  to 
migrate  to  Clermont,  in  Ohio.  A  contribution  was 
made  to  provide  an  outfit  for  the  departing  pastor. 
He  left  his  Jersey  home,  with  two  covered  wagons, 
capacious  enough  for  his  family  and  household  effects  ; 
driving  his  own  horses,  by  easy  stages,  through  the 
mountain  wilds  of  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio,  which  had 
been  scathed  by  war  and  Indian  ravages.  He  contin- 
ued to  preach  in  Ohio  until  his  death,  in  Bethel,  May 
4th,  1827,  at  the  age  of  seventy  one  years. 

During  Mr.  Edwards'  ministry,  a  new  meeting-house 
was  built.  It  was  dedicated  on  December  22d,  1801. 
The  pastors  succeeding  him  were :  Rev.  John  Watson ; 
who  was  followed  by  Augustine  Elliott,  in  1821 ;  Stille 
T.  Randolph,  in  1840  ;  Isaac  M.  Church,  in  1841 ;  John 
H.  Waterbury,  in  1846  ;  and  again  by  Mr.  Church. 

The  main  highway  from  Newark  to  Hanover,  in 
Morris  County,  passed  through  Northfield.  But  the 
hamlet  did  not  grow  rapidly.  The  iiighway  was  not 
much  traveled.  The  church  did  not  flourish.  The 
Newark  and  Mt.  Pleasant  Turnpike,  which  was  char- 
tered in  1806,  offered  a  more  direct  communication 
with  Morris  County.  It  passed  through  the  business 
centre  of  the  township  (Livingston,)  and  the  centre 
was  prospered  while  Northfield  stagnated.  Canoe 
Brook  is  nevertheless  historic,  and  invites  this  memo- 
rial record  of  the  first  Baptist  Church  society  in  the 
Newark  Mountains.  Its  centennial  anniversary  was 
celebrated  two  years  ago.  The  historical  sketch  of 
th^  church,  written  by  John  R.  Burnet  in  1868,  was 
read  on  that  occasion.  To  it,  and  to  Morgan  Edwards' 
notes,  is  this  writer  indebted  for  the  materials  of  this 
imperfect  record. 

The  original  name  of  the  church  at  Canoe  Brook 
was  changed  to  Northfield  Baptist  Church,  in  1801, 


222  History  of  the  Oranges. 

when  the  society  received  its  charter.  In  Jnne,  1851, 
fourteen  members  of  the  society  withdrew  to  consti- 
tute the  Livingston  Baptist  Church.  A  house  of  wor- 
ship was  erected  near  the  centre  of  the  township,  and 
is  still  in  use. 

REV.    ASA   HILLYEE,    D.D. 

After  Mr.  Chapman  had  closed  his  long  and  dis- 
tinguished pastorate,  in  August,  1800,  the  parish  was 
without  a  settled  minister  for  about  fifteen  months  ; 
enjoying,  for  a  season,  the  very  acceptable  services  of 
Rev.  Edward  Dorr  Griffin.  It  was  the  earnest  wish  of 
the  people  to  have  him  for  their  permanent  pastor.  He 
was,  however,  called  to  the  Newark  Church,  as  col- 
league to  Dr.  Macwhorter,  and  he  accepted  the  more 
desirable  appointment. 

The  Rev.  Asa  Hillyer  was  then  settled  over  the 
Presbyterian  Church  at  Bottle  Hill,  (now  Madison,) 
N.  J.  He  had  achieved  success  there  ;  both  as  a  pas- 
tor, and  as  a  preacher.  He  had  also  done  good  work 
as  an  evangelist.     In  1798,  he  had,  at  the  request  of 

the  General  Assembly,  gone 
\  as  a  missionary  into  the 
wilderness  of  Western  New 
York  and  Northern  Pennsylvania.  He  was  absent 
for  nine  weeks,  and  traveled  more  than  nine  hundred 
miles ;  preaching  nearly  every  day,  and  often  twice  a 
day,  during  the  whole  time.  It  is  stated,  that  he 
preached  the  first  Gospel  sermon  that  was  ever  deliv- 
ered upon  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Auburn,  N.  Y. 

Because  of  the  proximity  of  Orange  to  Bottle  Hill, 
as  well  as  because  of  Mr.  Griffin's  intimacy  with  Mr. 
Hillyer,  the  Orange  people  knew  the  latter  well.  He 
had  frequently  ministered  in  their  pulpit.  Many  of 
them  were  personally  acquainted  with  him.     And,  so, 


''pMfi- 


Rev.  Asa  Hilly er,  D.D.  223 

they  turned  their  attention  to  him,  as  a  good  substi- 
tute for  the  man  whom  they  at  first  had  desired.     The 
call  was  made  on  October  20,  1801 ;  arid  was  signed 
/  JJ  ^^  Aaron  Mun,  tToseph 

yiA^/fyi  -^/^^%>t.^Pierson,  Jun^ 
.^^^^^^n  ^//^  "^  AYilliams,  Daniel  Wil- 
liams, Samuel  Condit  and  Isaac  Pierson,  as  trustees ; 
and  by  Joseph  Pierson,  Junior,  Amos  Harrison,  John 
Perry,  Aaron  Mun,  Linus  Dodd  and  Henry  Osborne, 
as  elders.  ^ 

Mr.  Hillyer  promptly  accepted  the  call,  and  he  was 
installed  on  December  16th,  of  the  same  year.  2 

The  then  existing  condition  of  affairs  in  the  parish 
was  in  sharply-drawn  contrast  with  that  of  the  last 
years  of  the  pastorate  of  Mr.  Chapman.  The  adop- 
tion of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  in  1787, 
had  brought  the  States  into  harmonious  relations  with 
each  other.  The  rancor  of  political  strife  was  soft- 
ened ;  and  the  blight  of  French  infidelity,  which  had 
spread  over  the  whole  land,  was  giving  place  every- 
yj  where  to  purer  moral 

/Zy/  .        y^f^^^^y^l    impulses,    and    to    a 
/(/hAV  (/  T  ^^''®   elevated  relig- 

C>/  ^      ious  sentiment.    The 

years  of  peace,  too,  were  bringing  with  them  stability 
of  purpose  and  increase  of  wealth.  The  varied  arts  of 
industry  were  prospered  exceedingly.  The  general 
tone  of  the  parish  had  undergone  a  marked  change  for 
the  better,  under  the  six  months'  ministerial  services 
of  Mr.  Griffin.     Concerning  these  services  Mr.  Hillyer 


1.  Orange  Church  Records. 

2.  The  Church  Records  from  1800  to  1803  are  lost.  After  the  latter  year 
they  are  complete,  and  show  that  the  seed  sown  by  Mr.  Griffin  yielded  its 
fruit,  in  an  abundant  harvest,  during  the  earlier  years  of  Mr.  Hillyer's 
ministry. 


2  24  History   of  the   Oranges. 

wrote,  loug  afterwards,  to  the  author  of  the  "Annals 
of  the  American  PuliDit,"  as  follows  : 

"  In  no  situation  perhaps  was  Dr.  Griffin  more  entirely  at  home 
than  in  a  revival  of  religion.  It  was  my  privilege  often  to  be  with 
him  in  such  circumstances  ;  and  I  knew  not  which  to  admire  most, 
the  skill  with  which  he  wielded  the  sword  of  the  spirit,  or  the  child- 
like dependence  which  was  evinced  by  his  tender  and  fervent  sup- 
plications. Though  he  was  certainly  one  of  the  most  accom- 
plished pulpit  orators  of  his  time — on  these  occasions  especially 
the  power  of  his  eloquence  was  lost  sight  of  in  the  mighty  effects 
which  were  produced.  *  *  *  *  j^g  wrought  so  mightily  on 
the  religious  principles  and  affections  of  his  audience,  that  they 
had  not  the  time,  or  scarcely  the  ability,  to  marvel  at  the  exalted 
gifts  with  which  these  effects  were  associated."  1 

Like  the  scholarly  and  excellent  Caleb  Smith,  the 
purpose  of  the  new  minister  seemed  to  be,  by  his 
teachings  and  his  example,  so  to  enforce  the  great 
princijjles  of  the  Christian  faith  upon  his  hearers,  that 
they  should  illustrate  them  in  all  the  relations  and 
conditions  of  life — civil,  social  and  religious. 

Nor  was  he  narrow  minded  ;  nor  did  he  restrict  his 
energy  to  the  limits  of  his  own  parish  or  district. 
Every  suggestion  for  the  benefit  of  the  community  at 
large  appealed  to  his  sympathy,  and  called  forth  his 
personal  efforts  for  its  success.  He  assisted  in  the 
formation  of  the  United  Foreign  Missionary  Society  ; 
afterwards  merged  in  the  American  Board  of  Mis- 
sions, and  of  which  he  became  a  director.  The  great 
national  societies  for  extending  the  knowledge  of  the 
Gospel,  which  Avere  established  in  the  early  years  of 
this  century,  received  his  encouragement.  He  cher- 
ished a  lively  interest  in  their  operations,  and  contrib- 
uted his  time  and  means  generously  to  their  support. 


1.  Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  39. 


Rev.  Asa  Hilly er,  D.D.  225 

In  1811,  lie  was  made  a  trustee  of  the  College  of  New 
Jersey,  and  held  the  oflEice  to  the  close  of  his  life.  In 
1812,  he  was  chosen  one  of  the  first  managers  of  the 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary,  and  retained  the  po- 
sition until  the  division  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
In  1818,  he  was  made  a  Doctor  of  Di\initY  by  Alle- 
ghany College.  ^Vlien  the  church  was  divided  into 
Old  and  New  School,  in  1837,  Dr.  Hillyer,  with  the 
Newark  Presbytery,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  became 
identified  with  the  New  School  branch.  Although  he 
regarded  the  division  as  unwise,  it  did  not  alter  his  old- 
time  relations  with  those  from  whom  he  was  thereby 
separated. 

In  the  winter  of  1839-40,  he  was  enfeebled  by  a  dis- 
ease, under  which  his  physical  force  rapidly  declined. 
His  last  public  address  was  at  the  communion  of  his 
church,  less  than  four  weeks  before  he  was  taken  from 
them.  The  occasion  was  one  of  deep  interest  to  the 
congregation,  as  to  himself— the  aged  pastor,  rapidly 
approaching  the  gates  of  death.  It  was  in  the  nature 
of  reward  for  conscientious  and  well-directed  effort, 
that  he  witnessed  the  accession  of  an  unusually  large 
number  to  the  roll  of  membership.  He  had  resigned 
the  active  duties  of  his  charge  in  1833.  From  tha 
time  until  his  decease,  he  employed  himself,  on  secu- 
lar days,  in  visiting  his  people  at  their  homes,  and  in 
occasional  religious  services  in  public ;  but,  on  the 
Sabbath,  his  voice  was  frequently  heard  in  one  or 
another  of  the  three  Presbyterian  pulpits  of  the  town. 
Wherever  he  went,  he  was  welcome  ;  whatever  he  said 
or  did,  he  was  loved,  honored  and  revered. 

Dr.  Hillyer  was  a  little  above  the  ordinary  stature, 
and  of  a  fine  commanding  presence;  with  regular 
features,  and  a  benign,  attractive  ex])ression  of  coun- 
tenance. He  was  remarkable  for  his  prudence  of 
15 


226  History   of  the    Oranges. 

speecli  and  blandness  of  manner  in  conversation.  He 
was  cheerful  without  levity,  and  dignified  without 
pride  ;  an  agreeable  companion,  and  a  faithful  friend  ; 
as  a  preacher,  he  was  highly  respected ;  as  a  working 
pastor,  he  had  but  few  superiors  or  even  equals.  With 
his  people,  in  both  their  joys  and  their  sorrows,  he 
deeply  sympathized.  In  the  hour  of  affliction  he  was 
eminently  a  son  of  consolation.  He  was  a  grand  spec- 
imen of  the  Christian  gentleman,  and  under  all  cir- 
cumstances sustained  the  dignity  of  his  sacred  office.  "^ 
He  was  born  in  Sheffield,  Mass.,  April  6, 1763.  His 
father,  a  native  of  Granby,  Ct.,  removed  to  Sheffield 
to  practice  the  art  of  medicine.  There  he  married, 
and,  when  his  son,  Asa,  was  ten  years  of  age,  he  re- 
turned to  Granby ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  a  two 
years'  sojourn  in  Bridgehampton,  L.  I.,  lived  there 
till  his  death.  In  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  he  was 
enrolled  in  the  service  as  a  surgeon  ;  and  during  a  part 
of  the  time  was  attended  by  his  son,  then  about  six- 
teen or  eighteen  years  of  age.  In  1782,  the  latter  en- 
tered Yale  College,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in 
1786,  at  the  age  of  twenty-three.  He  was  converted 
to  Christ  while  at  the  college.  ^ 


1.  Sprague's  Annals,  III.  533. 

The  author  of  this  history  came  to  Orange,  as  a  resident,  twelve  years 
after  Dr.  Hillyer's  death.  His  calling  in  life  brought  him  into  familiar  re- 
lation with  the  people  in  all  parts  of  the  parish.  He  can  bear  witness  to  the 
abiding  impression  made  by  the  old  pastor  upon  the  people  of  the  town,  not 
only  among  those  of  his  own  parish,  but  upon  those  of  every  Christian 
name.  The  great  majority  of  the  residents  at  that  time  were  native-born. 
The  memory  of  Dr.  Hillyer  was  fragrant  with  them  all.  Even  now,  those 
who  are  living  at  an  advanced  age  declare  that  the  most  cherished  associa- 
tions and  best  impulses  of  their  childhood  and  their  youthful  years,  are  in- 
wrought with  the  pleasant  recollection  of  "  Good  old  Dr.  Hillyer." 

2.  Dr.  Hillyer's  father  was  living  at  this  time  in  Bridgehampton,  L.  I. 
As  the  son  was  on  his  passage  homewards  from  New  Haven,  the  vessel  in 
which  he  sailed  was  driven  ashore  on  a  stormy  night,  near  the  east  end  of 
Long  Island.     On  board  the  vessel  there  were  a  mother  and  several  small 


Rev.  Asa  Hillyer,  D.D.  227 

After  completing  his  academical  course,  he  began 
the  study  of  theology  under  the  instruction  of  Rev. 
Dr.  Buell,  of  East  Hampton,  L.  I.,  and  finished  the 
the  same  under  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  H.  Livingston,  of 
the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  in  New  York  city.  He 
was  licensed  as  an  evangelist  by  the  old  Suffolk  Pres- 
bytery of  Long  Island,  in  1788.  Tlien  he  was  invited 
to  preach  at  Connecticut  Farms  and  at  Bottle  Hill, 
N.  J.,  giving  to  each  two  Sabbaths  in  succession.  The 
latter  congregation  invited  him  to  become  their  pastor, 
and  he  was  duly  ordained  and  installed  as  such  on 
September  29,  1789. 

On  June  8,  1791,  he  married  Jane,  the  only  child  of 
Capt.  Abfaham  Riker,  ^  of  New  Town,  L.  I.  She  died 
at  Orange,  April  4,  1828.  The  fruit  of  the  union  was 
seven  children,  four  sons  and  three  daughters,  namely  : 
Asa,  bom  August,  1792 ;  Tace  Bradford,  born  March 
9,  1794  ;  Margaret  Riker,  born  February  7, 1797  ;  Jane 
Elizabeth,  born  August  3,  1801 ;  Abraham  Riker,  born 
August  20,  1803  ;  Edward  Dickson,  born  — ,  1805  ;  and 
Edward  Trueman,  bom  August  1,  1811. 

His  success  as  a  preacher  and  pastor  is  illustrated  in 
the  records  of  the  Orange  church,  by  the  remarkable 
increase  of  its  membership  in  certain  years.  The  sub- 
urban element  in  the  population  did  not  manifest  itself 
until  many  years  after  his  resignation ;   and,  conse- 

children,  to  whose  preservation  and  comfort  he  gave  his  efforts  ;  and,  as  the 
morning  dawned,  placed  them  in  a  boat,  and,  plunging  in  the  water,  pushed 
the  boat  ashore.  Until  that  time  he  had  been  a  stranger  to  the  hopes  of  the 
Gospel.  He  was  then  impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  dangers  through  which 
he  had  passed,  and  with  gratitude  to  God  for  his  life  so  mercifully  spared, 
and  on  that  solitary  beach,  he  consecrated  himself  to  the  service  of  God. 

I.  Abraham  Riker,  born  1740,  was  a  Captain  in  the  American  army. 
He  was  present  at  the  fall  of  Montgomery  at  Quebec,  and  served  also  in  the 
battle  of  Saratoga.  In  the  next  year  (1778,)  he  died  of  spotted  fever  at 
Valley  Forge,  aged  37.  His  widow  died  at  Orange,  N.  J-i  November  ig, 
1835,  aged  f)5.     Annals  of  Newtown,  L.  I. 


228  History  of  the  Oranges. 

qiiently,  tlie  growth  of  the  society,  in  any  previous 
period,  is  a  true  indication  of  the  power  and  fidelity 
of  its  chief  oflBcer.  We  observe  that,  in  1803,  there 
were  added  twenty-eight  new  members ;  in  1808,  one 
hundred  and  forty- six  ;  in  1814,  thirty-five  ;  in  1817, 
(when  he  had  the  assistance  of  Rev.  Dr.  Hatfield,)  one 
hundred  and  thirteen  ;  in  1825,  fifty-five ;  and,  in  1832, 
sixty-three  :  in  all,  four  hundred  and  forty. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


THE  OEANGE  ACADEMY. 


WE  have  already  said  of  Rev.  Mr.  Chapman,  that 
he  manifested  a  deep  interest  in  the  welfare  and 
success  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  His  love  of 
learning  and  his  desire  for  its  promotion  are  further 
Illustrated  by  his  efforts,  soon  after  the  War,  in  found- 
ing in  his  own  parish  an  academy  of  such  an  order  as 
to  attract  students  from  abroad.  Through  his  influ- 
ence, at  a  public  meeting  of  the  parish,  on  April  21, 
1785,  it  was  unanimously  agreed  to  build  a  house  in 
the  heart  of  the  village  "for  the  purpose  of  a  public 
school"  A  committee,  of  which  he  was  one,  was  then 
appointed  to  take  measures  to  perfect  the  scheme.  It 
was  also  voted  that  five  trustees  should  be  annually 
elected  to  have  the  care  and  control  of  the  same.  The 
first  trustees  so  elected  were  Rev.  Mr.  Chapman, 
l)r.  John  Condit,  Dr.  Matthias  Pierson,  Josiah  Horn- 
blower  and  Bethuel  Pierson.  Generous  subscriptions 
were  obtained,  and  great  diligence  was  shown  in  pro- 
viding for  the  erection  of  the  necessary  building.  Its 
site — one-tenth  of  an  acre — was  purchased  from  Mat- 
thew Condit,  son  of  John  Condit,  who  built  and 
kept  the  tavern  south  of,  and  opposite  to,  the  meet- 
ing-house.    The  deed,  dated  December  13,  1785,  was 


230  History  of  the  Oranges. 

made  to  Jedidiah  Chapman,  Col.  John  Condit  and 
Henry  Squier ;  and  it  declared  that  the  school,  to  be 
erected,  should  be  forever  free  for  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  neighborhood.  The  same  three  persons  who 
received  the  deed,  together  with  Josiah  Hornblower 
and  Bethuel  Pierson,  were  afterwards  made  the  sec- 
ond board  of  trustees.  A  substantial  two-story  brick 
building  was  put  up,  and,  in  the  spring  of  1787,  the 
new  school  began  its  work. 

The  New  Jersey  Journal,  of  October  — ,  1787,  con- 
tains the  following  advertisement :  ' '  The  winter  ses- 
sion of  the  Academy  at  Orange  Dale  will  begin  on 
the  22d,  under  the  immediate  instruction  of  Mr.  Har- 
ris and  Mr.  Crow,  both  graduates  of  Nassau  Hall." 
They  were  graduated  in  the  early  part  of  that  year ; 
the  summer  session  of  the  school  having  been  con- 
ducted by  a  temporary  teacher.  That  the  institution 
soon  obtained  a^good  name,  is  certified  to  by  Winter- 
bottom,  an  English  traveler,  who  wrote,  a  few  years 
later : 

"There  are  a  good  many  academies  in  this  State  :  one  at  Free- 
hold ;  another  at  Trenton,  in  which  are  about  eighty  students ; 
another  in  Hackensack,  with  upwards  of  one  hundred  scholars ; 
another  flourishing  academy  at  Orange  Dale,  in  the  county  of 
Essex,  with  as  many  scholars  as  any  of  the  others,  furnished  with 
able  instructors  and  good  accomodations;  also  at  Burlington, 
Newark  and  Elizabethtown." 

After  the  decease  of  Mr.  Chapman  and  Mr.  Squier, 
Col.  John  Condit,  the  survivor,  by  his  deed,  dated 
November  14,  1823,  made  a  conveyance  of  the  lot,  not 
however  as  the  surviving  trustee,  but  in  his  own  right, 
to  Stephen  D.  Day,  Rev.  Asa  Hillyer,  Daniel  Babbit, 
John  M.  Lindsley,  Daniel  D.  Condit,  Abraham  Winans 
and  Samuel  W.  Tichenor,  as  trustees  of  the  Orange 
Academy  District,  for  the  same  use  which  had  been 


The  Orange  Academy.  231 

specified  ia  the  original  grant  from  Matthew  Condit.  ^ 
The  deed  from  Col.  Condit  being  given  in  his  own 
right,  it  became  necessary  for  the  trustees,  in  1845,  to 
apply  to  the  Legislature  to  remedy  the  defect.  This 
was  done  by  an  act  of  that  year.  Col.  Condit,  in  re- 
citing the  terms  of  the  original  conveyance  by  Matthew 
Condit,  declared  in  his  deed  of  1823  : 

"  It  is  the  true  intention  and  meaning  of  these  presents,  that  no 
particular  sect  or  profession  of  people  in  said  place  shall  have  any 
right  to  said  premises,  on  account  of  the  profits  which  may  arise 
from  it,  more  than  another ;  but  it  shall  be  and  remain  for  a  good, 
public  and  moral  school  of  learning,  for  the  use  of  all  the  inhab- 
itants that  now  are  or  ever  shall  be  in  said  Orange,  to  the  end  of 
time." 

In  1845,  the  trustees  of  the  Academy  District,  hav- 
ing secured  the  necessary  legislative  aid,  sold  and  con- 
veyed the  academy  and  lot  to  John  M.  Lindsley.  The 
property  is  still,  (1888),  in  the  possession  of  his  heirs, 
and  has  been  converted  to  other  uses.  The  old  struc- 
ture was  taken  down  in  the  early  days  of  August,  1888, 
to  give  place  to  a  large  brick  building,  erected  in  that 
year,  and  into  the  foundations  of  which  the  old  mate- 
rial was  worked.  ^ 


1.  Hoyt's  History  of  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Orange,  p.  189. 

2.  There  was  a  school  of  some  note,  in  the  first  years  of  the  present  cen- 
tury at,  or  near,  the  Brick  Church.  It  was  known,  in  181 1,  as  the  Lower 
Academy.  In  that  year  a  house  and  lot  were  advertised  for  sale,  and  de- 
scribed as  being  located  "  at  the  junction  of  the  Newark  and  Mount  Pleas- 
ant Turnpike  and  the  Caldwell  and  Cranetown  Road,  in  the  town  of  Orange, 
one  door  from  the  Lower  Academy."  Alexander  H.  Freeman,  in  his  sketch 
of  schools  in  Orange,  says  "  that  it  was  a  stone  building,  and  taken  down 
about  that  time.  The  period  of  its  erection  is  not  known,  but  presumably 
about  the  middle  of  the  last  century."  We  have  found  no  allusion  to  it  in 
any  other  record  before  181 1.  After  the  War  there  was  also  a  school  on 
the  Ridgewood  Road,  known  as  the  Washington  Academy  ;  it  was  situated 
near  the  Silver  Spring,  between  Orange  and  South  Orange.  We  have  no 
knowledge  of  its  history,  except  through  some  dim  recollections  of  a  few  of 
the  old  people  who  were  born  in  its  vicinity. 


232  History  of  the  Oranges. 

THE   PARISH   SLOOP. 

The  support  of  the  Gospel  in  the  Mountain  [settle- 
ment was  not  without  its  burdens.  To  increase  the 
revenues  of  the  parish,  it  was  resolved  in  December, 
1784,  to  build  a  sloop,  to  ply  from  Newark  to  New 
York,  as  well  as  to  various  points  on  the  Hudson  and 
Long  Island  Sound.  The  first  settlers  of  the  town 
recognized,  at  the  outset,  the  importance  of  water  com- 
munication with  other  ports  on  the  coast.  In  the  di- 
vision of  their  lands,  a  "boatman's  lot,"  and  provis- 
ion for  its  immediate  use  and  occupancy,  were  among 
their  earliest  measures.  In  1784,  the  Newark  dock 
had  been  in  use  for  more  than  a  century,  and,  doubt- 
less, had  been  neglected  during  the  years  of  the  War. 
The  Mountain  parish  therefore  undertook  its  repair, 
and  agreed  to  furnislif,a  certain  "Bill  of  timber"  for 
the  purpose. 

The  method  adopted  by  the  parish  for  raising  the 
means  for  the  building  of  the  boat  appears  from  an 
agreement,  entered  into  at  a  parish  meeting,  as  foUows  : 

"  Whereas,  it  is  our  indispensible  duty  to  support  the  Gospel  for 
the  best  interests  of  the  parish  :  We,  the  subscribers,  think  that  a 
parish  boat  would,  at  present,  be  of  great  advantage  to  this  society ; 
not  only  her  profits  would  be  saved,  but  if  properly  applied  might 
go  a  great  way  towards  the  support  of  the  Gospel  among  us ;  and 
we  also  think  the  best  and  most  equal  way  of  raising  money  for 
this  purpose  is  that  of  a  general  rate  raised  on  the  same  plan  as 
Mr.  Chapman's  salary.  We,  the  subscribers,  do  therefore  agree, 
should  this  plan  become  general  throughout  the  society,  that  our 
persons  and  estates  should  be  assessed  on  the  plan  aforesaid,  in 
order  to  raise  money  to  build  a  parish  boat  for  the  purpose  before 
mentioned  ;  and  hereby  promise  to  pay  into  the  hands  of  the  man- 
agers, who  shall  be  chosen  by  the  society  at  large  to  build  said 
parish  boat,  the  several  sums  levied  by  rate  as  aforesaid,  or  work 


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Subscription  for  Building  thk  Parish  Sloop,  1784. 


The  Parish  Sloop.  233 

and  materials  equivalent,  wlien  called  upon  by  said  managers  ;  and 
the  profits  arising  from  the  aforesaid  boat  shall  be  applied  quar- 
terly towards  paying  our  minister's  rate.     Orange,  Nov.  17,  1784." 

Copies  of  this  agreement  were  made  and  circulated, 
and  were  generally  signed.  One  of  them,  signed  by 
forty-nine  persons,  is  still  preserved ;  a  reduced  f ac 
similie  being  inserted,  as  the  autographs  will  be  inter- 
esting to  many  readers. 

In  the  minutes  of  "  a  publick  meeting  of  the  Parish 
of  Orange,"  held  on  December  22, 1784,  it  is  recorded : 

"  Whereas,  their  hath  been  sundry  subscriptions  handed  about 
in  this  parish,  for  the  purpos  of  raising  money  to  purchase  or  build 
a  Boat  for  the  benefit  of  its  members ; 

"Voted,  1st,  That  it  is  best  to  procede  on  to  build  a  boat 
according  to  the  plan  of  the  Subscriptions. 

"  Vote,  2d.  Captain  Amos  Harrison,  Henry  Squier,  Jabez  Pier- 
son  were  chosen  Managers  in  the  building  of  said  Boat. 

"Vote,  3d.  Cpt.  Thomas  Williams,  Joseph  Baldwin,  Isaac 
Munn,  Cpt.  Jon"  Condit,  John  Lindsley,  Isaac  Freeman,  Timothy 
Ward,  Josiah  (juinby,  and  Aaron  Harrison,  appointed  to  be  a  Com- 
mittee to  Call  upon  and  Settle  with  said  Managers." 

And,  on  January  3,  1785,  the  parish  resolved  that  "The  managers 
of  Sloop  Orange  are  authorized  to  appoint  Boatmen." 

For  a  short  series  of  years  the  Orange  sloop  was  a 
sucdess,  yielding  to  the  parish  a  net  annual  revenue  of 
from  £45  to  £60.  It  was  freighted  to  a  considerable 
degree  with  the  productions  of  the  mountains  ;  very 
largely  with  staves,  to  be  reshipped  at  Kew  York  for 
the  West  Indies.  On  one  occasion,  at  least,  it  went  as 
far  as  Albany.  At  the  beginning  of  the  enterprise 
and  till  1797,  it  was  controlled  by  the  parish  ;  then  its 
management  was  transferred  to  the  trustees.  On  the 
whole  it  was  not  a  fortunate  enterprise.  Its  yearly 
returns  grew  less  and  less.  In  1800,  one-half  of  the 
vessel  was  sold  to  Joseph  T.   Baldwin.     Two   years 


234  History  of  the  Oranges. 

thereafter,  "Aaron  Munn  and  John  Lindsley  were 
appointed  to  sell  the  boat."  {Parish  Records.)  And 
it  is  probable  that  every  one  in  the  congregation,  from 
the  minister  down  to  widow  Cundit,  who  swept  the 
church,  was  glad  when  the  vessel  was  disposed  of. 

THE   OEANGE  DOCK. 

The  Newark  dock  was  abandoned  by  the  Mountain 
people  during  the  running  of  the  sloop,  and  the  Or- 
ange dock  was  built  by  the  parish.  In  1806,  the  trus- 
tees erected  upon  it,  by  subscription,  a  storehouse, 
18  X  30  feet.  The  contract  for  the  building  was  award- 
ed to  Amos  Harrison  for  $239.75.  The  dock  was  in 
possession  of  the  parish  and  was  rented  by  it  until 
1819,  when  it  was  sold  to  John  I.  Plume,  for  $400. 
Ezekiel  Ball,  William  Halsey  and  John  N.  Cuming 
are  named*  in  the  deed,  as  being  the  owners  of  the 
adjoining  lands.  The  dock  was  on  the  south  line  of 
Bridge  Street,  and  extended  one  hundred  feet  on  the 
river  front. 

THE  PAEISH   NAILERY. 

In  an  old  account-book  in  the  parish  archives,  are 
twenty  iDages  of  "Nailery  Accounts,"  extending  from 
February  25, 1768,  to  May  28, 1770.  There  is  a  tradition 
that  there  was  a  nailery  at  the  Mountain,  which  gave 
name  to  Nailor's  Brook,  of  which  we  have  already 
spoken ;  and  that  it  was  here  that  the  nails  were 
forged  for  the  building  of  the  second  meeting-house  in 
1754.  This  date  makes  void  the  tradition,  as  the  ac- 
counts of  the  nailery  begin  fourteen  years  after  the 
church  was  built.  The  first  entry  in  the  accounts  is, 
"to  cash  paid  for  advertisement,  2  |  6."  Then  follow 
charges  for  materials  for  building  purposes,  to  wit : 
brick,  stone,  mortar,  coal,  shingles,  iron  and  rum.     It 


GRAVE    OF    ELIZABETH   JOEUS;     1729. 


The  Old  Graveyard.  235 

was  completed  in  about  sixty  days,  at  a  total  cost  of 
£36,  8s.  3d. 

The  accounts  being  kept  in  a  book  of  the  parish,  the 
preparation  for  manufacture  by  the  erection  of  a  build- 
ing and  an  advertisement  of  the  same,  lead  to  the  in- 
ference that  it  was  a  parish  scheme  for  revenue.  The 
success  of  the  venture  does  not  appear  in,  any  state- 
ment of  profit  and  loss.  The  expenses  for  the  plant, 
labor  and  material,  were  £115,  lis.  lid.  ;  but  there  is 
no  intelligible  record  of  the  receipts. 

THE   OLD    GEAVEYAED. 

The  Parish  Burial  Place  is  one  of  the  "first  things" 
of  the  Mountain  Society.  Its  earliest  use  for  the 
repose  of  the  dead  is  veiled  in  profound  obscurity. 
Deeds,  still  preserved,  record  the  dates  and  circum- 
stances of  the  purchase  of  lands  for  other  parish  pur- 
poses, even  before  it  is  supposed  that  the  graveyard 
was  occupied  as  such.  Neither  deed  nor  record  of  any 
deed  for  the  first  yard  has  been  found.  The  offices  of 
the  Secretary  of  State  at  Trenton,  and  the  Surveyor- 
General  at  Amboy,  and  the  public  records  of  Essex 
County  have  been  carefully  examined,  but  all  in  vain. 
Mr.  Hoyt,  in  his  History  of  the  Mountain  Society, 
writes  :  "  It  is  said  that  the  records  of  the  Mountain 
Society  perished  or  were  lost  in  the  time  of  the  Revo- 
lution." Again,  that  they  are  "said  to  have  i^erished 
in  a  fire,"  before  1800.  Some  manuscripts  may  have 
gone  astray,  but  papers  of  value,  together  with  the 
almost  continuous  records  of  the  congregation  during 
the  pastorates  of  Eev.  Caleb  Smith  and  Rev.  Jedidiah 
Chapman,  have  passed  under  the  eye  of  this  writer, 
and  have  been  by  him  transferred  to  the  pages  of  this 
history.    The  story  of  their  loss  is  thus  made  void. 

It  is  traditional,  that  Nathaniel  Wheeler  gave  the 


236  History  of  the  Oranges. 

original  burial  plot  to  the  parish  ;  and  this  is  not  im- 
probable, because  such  a  fact  would  be  likely  to  be  re- 
membered, and  so  brought  down  through  the  genera- 
tions. One  newspaper  sketch,  which  we  have  seen, 
says,  as  if  quoting  from  an  instrument  of  writing,  that 
Wheeler  gave  the  lot  "  as  a  burial  place  forever." 

Nathaniel  Wheeler  held  lands  in  this  part  of  the 
Mountain  district.  For  these,  and  other  lands  at  South 
Orange,  he  received  warrants  of  survey,  in  1696,  but 
no  record  appears  of  the  issue  of  any  patent  to  him. 
The  only  evidence,  and  that  quite  dim,  that  he  owned 
the  land  where  the  early*  burials  were  made,  is  that 
found  in  Lib.  2,  of  Carteret's  Book,  page  231,  to  wit, 
a  description  of  a  survey  in  1721,  for  John  Wells : 

"Within  the  bounds  of  Newark,  and  lying  on  the  long  hill  near 
the  meeting-house,  at  the  parting  of  two  paths.  Beginning  at  the 
corner  of  a  field  of  Nathaniel  Wheeler,  Sen"".  Contents  2  65-100 
acres." 

At  that  early  day,  an  acre  or  so  of  land  was  not  of 
much  value.  It  was  given  sometimes  without  consider- 
ation or  papers.  Deeds  were  also  occasionally  passed 
by  mere  transfer  from  one  person  to  another.  The 
survey  above  mentioned  seems  to  mark  the  "corner" 
of  a  field,  at  the  intersection  of  Main  and  Scotland 
Streets.  But  the  ownership  by  Wheeler  is  ascertained. 
And  it  is  possible  that  he  had  allowed  burials  to  be 
made  upon  the  property. 

The  first  grave  with  a  memorial  stone  was  that  of 
Anthony  Olef,  who  died  March  16,  1723,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-seven  years.  ^  Nathaniel  Wheeler  died  and 
was  buried  there,  three  years  afterwards,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-seven. 


I.     See  Frontispiece. 


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The  Old  Graveyard.  237 

The  settlements  at  the  Mountain  began  about  forty 
years  before  his  death.  In  1718,  the  population  had 
increased  sufficiently  to  sustain  a  religious  society. 
That  there  had  been  many  burials  before  that  date, 
cannot  be  questioned.  Some  were  made  in  the  old 
graveyard  at  Newark,  and  others,  perhaps,  on  the 
lands  left  by  the  deceased,  or  on  the  lands  of  their 
friends.  It  is  not  unreasonable  to  believe,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  any  testimony  on  the  subject,  that  the  good 
old  Nathaniel  Wheeler  suffered  burials  to  be  made  on 
his  comer  lot,  and  at  the  northeasterly  section  of  the 
same,  convenient  to  the  highways  running  east,  west 
and  south.  Tradition  claims  that  there  were  inter- 
ments made  there  several  years  before  the  earliest  in- 
scription which  has  been  preserved.  The  field  had 
thus  acquired  sacredness  as  a  place  of  burial.  The 
body  of  Mr.  Wheeler's  old  neighbor,  Anthony  01  ef, 
was  laid  there;  and  when  his  own  remains  required 
sepulture,  it  was  fitting  and  most  natural  that  his 
sons  and  daughters,  all  living  at  the  Mountain,  should 
let  them  rest  among  those  whom  he  had  known  and 
loved  in  life.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  he  was  the 
only  one  of  the  original  signers  of  the  Fundamental 
Agreement  of  1667  who  was  buried  at  the  Mountain. 

This  interment  in  his  own  field  "at  the  parting  of 
the  two  paths,"  has  become  a  memorial  of  him  more 
enduring  than  his  gravestone,  now  over  a  century  and 
a  half  old,  and  more  lasting  than  that  of  any  of  his 
old  Puritan  associates  of  1667. 

On  November  8,  1792,  ^^  ]:)arish  resolved  to  enlarge 
the  burial  ground  by  the  purchase  of  about  two  acres, 
adjoining  the  same.  The  original  plot  had  a  front  on 
the  main  highway  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  feet, 
by  four  hundred  and  twenty-one  feet  on  Scotland 
Street,  and  it  contained  about  one  and  a  third  acres. 


238  History  of  the  Oranges. 

From  the  executors  of  the  estate  of  Simeon  Ogden  a 
purchase  was  made  of  that  part  of  his  ground  lying 
west  of  the  old  plot,  and  in  the  rear  of  the  same,  in 
the  form  of  an  L?  thereby  making  the  whole  frmit  as 
it  now  is,  two  hundred  and  eighty-nine  feet,  with  a 
depth  of  six  hundred  and  twenty-nine  feet.  Tlie  con- 
sideration paid  for  the  addition,  was  £38,  2s. 

ST.  maek's  geaveyaed. 
On  November  28, 1842,  the  corporation  of  St.  Mark's 
Church  bought  of  Edward  Condit  a  lot,  eighty-six 
feet  wide  on  the  main  street,  lying  west  of  the  old 
ground,  with  the  same  depth  as  the  latter.  The  price 
paid  for  the  plot  was  S313.70 ;  which  was  raised  by 
subscription,  and  of  which  Samuel  Williams  gave  $200. 
The  whole  frontage  of  the  graveyard  is  now  three 
hundred  and  seventy-five  feet.  The  corporation  of 
St.  Mark's,  being  desirous  of  retaining  the  whole 
Avidth  of  its  lot  for  purposes  of  interment,  arranged 
with  the  old  parish  for  a  driveway  on  its  west  line,  to 
be  used  by  both  corporations.  The  consideration  for 
its  use,  on  the  part  of  St.  Mark's,  was  that  it  should 
erect  the  gates,  and  pay  the  expense  of  keeping  them 
in  repair. 

THE   FIEST   CHFKCH   BELL. 

Almost  coincident  with  the  enlargement  of  the  burial 
ground,  in  1792,  was  the  placing  of  a  bell  upon  the 
meeting-house.  Its  belfry  had  been  an  unused  and 
not  very  comely  feature  of  the  building,  from  the  time 
of  its  construction,  thirty-eight  years  before.  The  bell 
cost  the  parish  £114,  6s.  3d.,  or  8380. 

From  several  entries  in  the  parish  books,  it  appears 
that  the  bell  was  thereafter  actively  employed,  and 
that  the  position  of  bell-ringer  must  have  been  a 
laborious  one.    The  people  were  to  be  summoned  to 


GRAVE    OF    HANNAH   JONES;      1732. 


Building  Lots  in  lygs-  -39 

public  service  in  the  chnrcli  on  every  Sabbath  and 
Lecture  Day ;  and,  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  they 
were  to  be  warned  that  the  honr  had  come  for  family 
worship,  and  for  retiring  to  bed. 

In  1794,  the  office  of  sexton  (which  included  the 
whole  work  in  and  about  the  meeting-house,)  was  sold 
by  public  auction  to  the  lowest  bidder.  We  have 
found  the  following  curious  document,  among  the 
parish  archives : 

"Articles  of  Vendue  Held  this  first  Daj/ of  January,  1794;  are  as 
follows :  the  Ringing  of  the  Bell  &  Sweeping  the  Meeting  House 
at  Orange,  &  the  Care  of  Opening  &  Shutting  the  same.  The 
Bell  shall  be  rung  Every  Sabbath  morning  one  hour  &  a  quarter 
before  the  time  of  Divine  Service,  &  a  quarter  of  an  hour  before 
the  same  in  the  morning  &  afternoon,  to  ring  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
each  time,  &  also  on  Lecture  Days  &  at  nine  o'clock  every  night ; — 
to  be  Struck  off  to  the  Lowest  bidder;  the  Money  to  be  paid 
quarterly. 

"  Bid  off  to  Bethuel  Pierson  at  twelve  Pound,  ten  shillings. — 
£\2,  10,  o." 

Whether  the  practice  of  selling  the  office  was  con- 
tinued or  abandoned,  we  cannot  say  ;  but  in  the  parish 
records  it  appears  that,  in  1795 — a  year  later — the 
Trustees  "Agreed  with  Bethuel  Pierson  to  Ring  the 
Bell  at  Mne  o'clock  every  Evening  through  the  year 
1795  for  £4."  In  1805,  Josiali  Frost  was  engaged  to 
sweep  the  meeting-house,  ring  the  bell,  etc.,  for  one 
year,  at  $33.87.  His  work  included  the  "lighting  the 
candles  ;  the  candles  to  be  found  at  the  expense  of  the 
Parish,  and  the  ends  to  go  to  the  person  who  lights 
the  candles," 

BUILDHSrCx  LOTS  IN  1795. 

The  later  years  of  the  century  began  to  show  a  more 
quiet  and  promising  condition  of  aifairs.  The  inten- 
sity of  political  strife  was  lessened  to  a  considerable 


240  History  of  the  Oranges. 

degree  after  the  election  of  John  Adams,  the  second 
President  of  the  Republic,  when  the  people  turned 
their  attention  from  politics  to  economics.  Such  con- 
tinued to  be  the  case  after  the  close  of  a  canvass  for 
President,  except  in  the  opening  events  of  the  Rebel- 
lion of  1861. 

June  10,  1795.  The  Newark  Gazette  advertised  to 
be  sold, 

"  By  way  of  public  vendue,  twenty-three  building  lots  pleasantly 
situated  in  Orangedale,  opposite  the  Meetinghouse,  and  adjoining 
the  Academy.  Four  of  the  said  lots  have  a  never  failing  stream 
of  water  running  through  them,  which  renders  them  convenient  for 
the  tanning  business.  *  *  *  *  Situated  in  a  very  flourishing 
part  of  the  Country,  and  would  be  very  Convenient  for  any  person 
or  persons  who  may  wish  to  take  boarders." 

N.  B.  "  Scythe  makers,  nailors  and  silversmiths  will  find  it  tend 
greatly  to  their  business,  to  settle  themselves  in  this  place,  as  they 
are  much  wanted."  Matthew  Condit,i 

Joseph  Cone,  2 

1.  Matthew  Condit  inherited  the  land  of  his  father,  John,  who  owned 
from  Centre  Street  on  the  south  side  of  Main  Street,  to  a  point  west  of 
Lumber  Street.  He  owned  the  Academy  lot  and  sold  it  to  the  trustees,  as 
we  have  already  stated. 

2.  Joseph  Cone  had  his  house  on  the  corner  of  Reock  Street,  and  owned 
the  land  in  that  vicinity.  In  1798,  together  with  Matthew  Condit,  he  opened 
a  street  running  from  his  land  northerly  to  the  main  street ;  which  street 
bears  his  name  at  the  present  day.  In  1803,  he  advertised  lands  in  Ohio, 
to  which  State  he  soon  after  migrated.  Cone  Street  was  originally  carried, 
in  the  form  of  an  "  elbow,"  to  Centre  Street ;  but,  in  1853  or  1854,  it  was 
extended  southwardly  to  Henry  Street,  and  the  "  elbow  "received  the  name 
of  Reock  Street,  in  compliment  to  James  Reock,  whose  dwelling-house  was 
located  upon  the  same. 


Q$;o<^c>fy^po-^ 


Century  Day — 1801.  241 

OENTUEY   DAY  — 1801. 

Thirty  years  ago,  the  recollections  of  many  with 
whom  this  writer  then  conversed,  were  still  fresh  con- 
cerning the  initial  day  of  the  present  century.  It  was, 
as  they  told  him,  a  very  cold  day.  There  was  some- 
thing in  the  nature  of  a  public  celebration  of  the  event. 
Capt.  Moses  Condit  mustered  his  militia-men  upon 
the  common,  east  of  the  meeting-house,  and  under  the 
flag-staff,  and  then  they  fired  a  volley ;  Rev.  Mr.  Griffin 
addressed  a  great  crowd  of  peojDle  in  the  church. 

Mr.  Chaj)man's  pastorate  had  closed,  and  Mr.  Griffin, 
greatly  distinguished  in  after  years,  was  engaged  as  a 
"supply"  for  six  months.  The  people  desii'ed  to  call 
him  to  the  vacant  pulpit,  but  having  received  an  invi- 
tation to  become  the  co-pastor  of  the  Newark  Church, 
with  Dr.  MacWhorter,  he  accepted  the  call,  and  was 
installed  as  such.  He  remained  in  Newark  till  1809. 
For  two  years  he  was  the  sole  pastor  there  ;  his  aged 
colleague  having  died  in  July,  1807. 

While  in  Orange,  Mr.  Griffin  boarded  in  the  family 
of  Jotham  Harrison,  who  lived  on  the  present  site  of 
the  Matthias  O.  Halstead  house,  on  Main  Street,  next 
east  of  the  Reformed  Church.  His  eldest  daughter, 
Frances  Louisa,  was  born  there,  A^^ril  4, 1801.  Twenty- 
three  years  afterwards,  when  her  father  resided  at 
Williamstown,  Mass.,  being  the  President  of  the  Col- 
lege there,  she  became  the  wife  of  Dr.  Lyndon  A. 
Smith,  a  young  physician  practising  in  that  town. 
They  afterwards  removed  to  Newark,  N.  J.,  where, 
for  nearly  forty  years.  Doctor  Smith  was  one  of  the 
best  known  physicians  and  most  influential  citizens. 


i6 


242  History  of  the  ^Oranges. 

THE   PAEISH   LANDS. 

After  the  incorporation  of  the  Mountain  Society, 
under  the  name  of  ' '  The  Trustees  of  the  Second  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  Newark,"  ^  in  the  year  1783,  the 
newly-appointed  Trustees  held  a  meeting  on  October 
7th  ;  at  which  they 

"found  four  Deeds  Delivered  by  DoC  Pierson  : — 

"  1st.  Deed  for  the  Land  where  the  Meeting  House  Stands  on, 
from  Samuel  Wheeler,  1720. 

"  2d.  Deed  for  the  Lands  of  the  Parsonage,  from  Thomas 
Gardner,  17 19. 

"  3d.  Deed  for  Land  near  the  Meeting-house,  from  John  Cun- 
dict,  1742. 

"  4th.  Deed  for  Land  where  the  Parsonage  house  stand  on,  from 
Matthew  Williams,  1748." 

It  is  obvious,  from  the  neglect  to  mention  any  con- 
veyajice  or  lease  for  the  "Lower  Parsonage,"  which 
was  derived  from  the  Trustees  of  the  Newark  Church, 
that,  at  this  time  (1783),  the  Orange  Society  had  no 
"paper  title  "  for  the  same.  This  matter  will  be  fully 
explained  in  a  subsequent  part  of  this  chapter.  We 
propose  to  speak  of  the  five  tracts,  namely:  the 
Glebe,  the  Meeting  House  lot,  the  lot  near  the  Meet- 
ing House,  the  Parsonage  House  lot,  and  the  Lower 
Parsonage,  in  the  order  now  stated, — that  being  the 
order  in  which  the  several  properties  were  acquired  by 
the  Society. 

THE   GLEBE. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  repeat  what  we  have  already 
said,  {ante^  pages  102,  129-130,)  in  reference  to  this 
tract,  wliich  was  located  on  the  south  side  of  the  main 
street,  in  the  present  city  of  Orange,  and  included  the 
narrow  strip  of  land  now  known  as  "the  Common."    It 

I .  A  copy  of  the  act  is  to  be  found  in  the  parish  books  ;  and  it  is  described 
as  "  The  Charter  for  Orange  Corporation,  formerly  Called  and  Known  by 
the  Name  of  the  Newark  Mountain  Meeting-House." 


The  Glebe.  243 

had  a  frontage  of  twelve  chains, — or  792  feet, — and 
extended  from  Parrow'  s  Brook,  on  the  west,  to  a  point 
within  the  lines  of  the  existing  Prince  Street,  on  the 
east.  The  contents  were  twenty  acres,  including  the 
Common. 

So  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  ascertain,  the  Com- 
mon was  originally  thrown  out  for  the  purposes  of  a 
training-ground;  and  this  use  of  it  goes  back  to 
the  first  year  of  the  War  of  the  Revolution.  When 
the  military  spirit  of  the  neighborhood  was  quickened 
by  the  near  approach  of  hostilities,  some  of  the  other 
Griebe  lands  were  ap2:)ropriated  in  like  manner,  and  con- 
tinued to  be  used  therefor  after  the  War.  For  many 
years  subsequently,  all  able-bodied  citizens  were  en- 
rolled in  the  State  militia,  and  were  compelled  to  pa- 
rade at  regular  intervals.  The  parson  may  have  com- 
plained because  of  the  injury  occasioned  thereby  to 
his  growing  crops,  and  this  will,  probably,  explain  the 
entry  on  the  Trustees'  records,  under  the  date  of  June 
1,  1797:  "Agreed  to  give  Mr.  Chapman  at  the  rate 
of  three  pounds  per  acre  for  the  land  thrown  of  for 
training-ground. ' ' 

The  remaining  part  of  the  Glebe — generally  known 
under  and  by  the  name  of  "The  Parsonage," — was 
cultivated  either  by  the  pastor  himseK  or  under  his 
direction,  or  else  "upon  shares."  In  Caleb  Smith's 
account-book,  we  find  credits  for  "carting  Dung,  a 
Day;"  — "1  Day's  Plowing ;"  —  "  100  Rails  and  20 
Posts  ;"  —  "  30  young  Apple  Trees ;"  —  "Cradling  and 
taking  up  Oats;"  — "Seed  Wheat ;"  —  " Thatching 
Barrack ; "  —  "  Hoeing     Corn  ; "  —  "  Thrashing 


,  5J 


>3   ) 


"Reaping;"— and  the  like.  Mr.  Chapman,  a  strong, 
healthy  man,  full  of  energy  and  activity,  loved  farm- 
ing. Not  content  with  the  Glebe  lands,  he  hired 
another  tract,  which  adjoins  the  Montclair  gate- of  the 


244  History  of  the  Oranges. 

Rosedale  Cemetery,  and  there  lie  toiled  with  ten  times 
the  zeal  of  a  common  day-laborer.  He  kept  a  working- 
suit  there — ready  for  his  coming,  whenever  he  should 
wish  to  lay  aside  the  black  coat  and  cocked  hat. 

On  August  23,  1786,  at  a  public  meeting  of  the  con- 
gregation, it  was — ■ 

"  Voted,  unanimously,  that  John  Dod,  Jr.,  shall  divide  the  parish 
into  Eight  Classes,  for  the  purpos  of  a  more  Speeddy  and  better 
plan  to  fence  and  manure  the  parsnage ;  which  now  lies  in  Eight 
Lots. 

"  Each  respective  Class  are  to  appoint  one  or  two  men  for  over- 
seers, and  these  persons,  when  chosen,  shall  at  some  convenient 
Seson  meet  together,  and  then  fix  upon  the  particular  Lot  which 
Each  Class  are  for  the  future  to  repair.  But,  in  Case  one  Lot  is 
preferable  to  another,  and  they  do  not  agree  in  the  Choice,  it  shall 
be  determined  by  ballot. 

"It  was  further  moved  and  agreed  too,  that  the  above  mentioned 
overseers,  for  the  incouragement  of  the  Gospel,  should  influence  the 
people  to  punctually  pay  the  minister's  Sallary." 

Whether  this  ingenious  plan  succeeded  or  not,  we 
cannot  say.  It  shows,  however,  that  Parson  Chapman 
was  not  so  active  as  he  had  been  in  former  years.  But 
the  Glebe  was  in  the  very  centre  of  the  village,  where 
the  increase  in  the  population  was  most  rapid.  More 
dwellings  were  needed.  Building  lots  were  in  de- 
mand. And  thus  there  came  an  opportunity  for  re- 
plenishing the  parish  treasury,  which  was  availed  of, 
after  the  installation  of  Mr.  Hillyer.  Under  the  date 
of  April  1,  1802,  the  Trustees  enter  in  their  minutes  : 

"  It  having  been  thought  advisable  to  sell  a  part  of  the  Parson- 
age land,  the  interest  to  be  appropriated  for  the  support  of  the 
Gospel,"  a  parish  meeting  was  held,  and  it  was  then  decided  "  to 
divide  off  and  &  sell  five  building  Lotts  on  the  North  side,  &  Eight 
building  lots  on  the  South  side  of  the  Parsonage;  reserving  the 
and  which  now  lies  a  common,  for  that  purpose  forever." 


The  Glebe.  245 

The  five  lots  "on  the  north  side"  were  on  the  north 
side  of  Main  Street,  being  a  part  of  the  Parsonage 
House  tract,  which  had  been  bought  in  two  parcels, 
from  Matthew  Williams,  in  1748,  and  Isaac  Williams, 
^y  in  1787.    But  the  house 

/^<ja(lC  * ^ /  ilLC/lriLe  itself,  together  with  one 

'^  acre  of  land,  was  re- 
served for  the  use  of  the  minister  and  his  family.  It 
is  supposed  that  the  eight  lots,  on  the  south  side  of 
the  highway,  were  the  same  referred  to  in  the  resolu- 
tion of  the  parish  meeting,  in  August,  1786.  The 
remainder  of  the  Glebe  was  subsequently  divided  into 
two  lots,  which  were  conveyed  on  April  2o,  1817.  The 
Trustees'  book  (under  the  date  of  April  1,  1802,) 
continues : 

"  The  sd  lots,  after  being  advertised,  were  sold,  &  the  amount  of 
the  sales  was  Dolls.  3546.  The  Trustees  this  day  delivered  to  the 
purchasers  their  respective  Deeds  for  the  lots,  &  received  bond  & 
mortgage  on  the  lots  for  security." 

We  have  obtained,  from  the  county  records,  the  fol- 
lowing list  of  the  grantees  for  the  several  Glebe  lots, 
and  the  dates  of  the  several  conveyances ;  but  it  is 
proper  to  state  that,  as  some  of  the  deeds  have  not 
been  recorded,  we  feel  at  liberty  to  assume  that  the 
parties  named  in  certain  mortgages  to  the  Trustees,  for 
the  lots  in  question,  must  have  been  the  original  pur- 
chasers thereof : 

April  1,  1802,  William  Gray. 

"      Silas  Gondii. 

"      John  Dean. 

"      Alexander  Dean. 

"      Asa  Hillyer. 

"      Isaac  Pierson. 

>..  u  u 

"      John  Dean, 
o,  1817,   Asa  Hillyer. 
•'      Isaac  Pierson. 


246  History  of  the  Oranges. 

The  lot  conveyed  to  Mr.  Hillyer,  in  1817,  adjoined 
the  Brook  on  the  west,  and  had  a  frontage  of  4  chains 
and  20  links  on  Main  Street ;  and  it  extended  in  the 
rear  of  some  of  the  Main  Street  lots.  The  purchase 
by  Isaac  Pierson,  in  1817,  was  of  land  lying  entirely 
in  the  rear  of  the  Main  Street  lots. 

The  original  purpose  of  the  Trustees  in  laying  out 
the  Common,  was  more  generous  to  the  public  than 
the  existing  street  lines  would  indicate.  When  some 
of  the  lot-owners  had  built  their  houses,  they  delib- 
erately set  their  fences  in  such  manner  as  to  encroach 
from  six  to  eight  feet  upon  the  reserved  land.  The 
Trustees  protested,  and  threatened  legal  proceedings. 
But  the  difficulty  was  not  overcome  until  1825,  when 
a  new  front-line  was  established,  and  new  conveyances 
were  made  in  accordance  therewith.  There  was  then 
a  private  carriage-way  in  front  of  the  lots  ;  but,  finally, 
the  same  was  laid  out  as  South  Main  Street, — thereby 
reducing  the  width  of  the  Common  still  further. 

THE  MEETING-HOUSE   LOT. 

According  to  the  entry  in  the  Trustees'  minutes,  the 
deed  for  this  lot  was  made  by  Samuel  Wheeler,  in 
1720.  We  have  stated  on  page  106,  that  the  first  meet- 
ing-house stood  in  the  middle  of  the  "highway,"  op- 
posite the  present  Music  Hall.  Mr.  Hoyt  says,  that  the 
building  was  "on  a  little  knoll  in  the  midst  of  the 
traveled  road,  which  on  either  side  retired  like  the 
parting  Jordan — making  way  for  the  Ark."  No  one 
remembers  the  width  of  space,  so  left  on  the  north  and 
south  sides  of  the  church.  But,  the  deed  given  by 
Stephen  D.  Day  and  wife  to  the  Society,  in  1811,  for 
the  land  on  which  the  present  house  was  erected,  de- 
scribes the  lot  as  being  north  of  "the  Commons  whereon 
the  [second]  meeting-house  now  stands."     In  another 


The  Parsonage  House  Lot.  247 

deed  from  Mr,  Day  and  wife  to  the  Society,  in  1817, 
for  a  small  lot  adjoining  the  other  on  the  west,  the 
southern  boundary  of  the  lot  is  "the  Commons  in 
front  of  the  Church.'-  This  shows  that  our  statement, 
on  page  106,  was  not  technically  correct ;  and  that  the 
building  was  not  in  the  "public  road." 

We  suggest  that  the  Wheeler  lot,  upon  which  the 
first  and  second  meeting-houses  were  built,  must  have 
been  on  the  north  side  of  the  road  that  was  laid  out 
in  1705  ;  and  that  so  much  of  the  lot  (on  the  north,)  as 
was  not  required  for  the  meeting-houses,  was  thrown 
open  to  the  public  as  "Commons."  When  the  pres- 
ent building  was  erected,  in  1812,  the  Trustees  aban- 
doned all  claim  to  the  land,  and  it  became  a  part  of 
the  highway.  The  citizens  of  Orange  are,  therefore, 
indebted  to  the  liberality  of  the  Trustees,  for  the  gen- 
erous width  of  Main  Street  at  that  point. 

THE   JOHN   CUNDICT  LOT. 

We  have  been  unable  to  obtain  any  further  account 
of  this  lot  than  is  given  by  the  Trustees'  minutes,  viz : 
"land  near  the  meeting-house,  from  John  Cundict, 
1742."  No  such  deed  is  to  be  found  in  the  parish 
chest ;  nor  does  it  appear  upon  the  county  records. 

THE   PAESOISTAGE  HOUSE   LOT. 

The  front  part  of  this  lot, — extending  from  Park 
Street,  on  the  west,  to  a  point  distant  85  links  west- 
wardly  from  the  middle  of  Hilly er  Street, — was  pur- 
chased from  Matthew  Williams,  in  1748.  (See  ante^ 
pages  135-8,  145-7.)  A  single  acre  was  added  to  it,  on 
the  north,  by  purchase  from  Isaac  Williams,  in  1787. 

We  append  a  list  of  the  several  parcels  into  which 
the  property  was  divided,  and  the  dates  of  the  several 

conveyances  therefor,  so  far  as  we  have  been  able .  to 

« 


248  History  of  the    Oranges. 

obtain  the  same  from  the  county  records.  As  in  the 
case  of  the  Glebe  lands,  we  have  been  obliged  to  supj^ly 
the  names  of  some  of  the  purchasers  from  early  mort- 
gages—  they  having  neglected  to  record  their  own 
deeds  from  the  Trustees  : 

1802,  April  1,  Daniel  Matthews. 
"        "      "  Samuel  Munn. 

Joseph  Munn. 

Peter  Dean. 

Eleazer  Dodd. 
1808,  Ichabod  Locey. 

1817,  April  25,  Allen  Dodd. 
Jan'y  1,       "        " 

Ephraim  B.  PeiTy. 
1825,  Feb'y  4,  Moses  S.  Harrison. 
1825,  Mch.  28,  Thomas  A.  Ram  age. 
1825,  April  2,  Charles  T.  Shipman. 
1829,      "    30,  Allen  Dodd. 

and  Moses  S.  Harrison. 

THE   LOWEE   PAESOlirAGE. 

In  the  earliest  days  of  the  Town  by  the  River,  ample 
provision  was  made  for  the  support  of  the  Gospel,  as 
well  as  for  the  material  comfort  of  the  minister.  On 
January  1,  1669,  four  acres  of  meadow  were  set  apart 
for  the  use  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pierson;i  and  a  second 
grant  of  meadow  to  him  was  recorded  on  February  21, 
1760. 2  It  is  believed, — perhaps,  without  sufficient  rea- 
son,— that  these  two  tracts  formed  a  part  of  what  was 
afterwards  known  as  "the  Parsonage  Meadow." 

The  original  Proprietors,  in  their  Concessions,  au- 
thorized the  General  Assembly  of  the  Province  to  ap- 


1.  Newark  Town  Records,  p.  25. 

2.  lb.,  p.  36. 


/St?  2.  C^Si'^ 


Survey  of  the  Parish  Lots  and  the  Common 
OPPOSITE  the  Old  Parsonage  House. 


The  Lower  Parsonage.  249 

point  as  many  ministers  as  they  should  think  fit,  and 
to  provide  for  their  maintenance.  In  1672,  the  Pro- 
prietors, in  the  so-called  "Explanation  of  their  Con- 
cessions," agreed  to  give  two  hundred  acres  of  land 
"to  each  parish  for  the  use  of  their  ministers ;"  the 
same  to  be  free  of  rent  and  other  charges. 

On  October  31,  1676,  there  was  entered  in  "the  Pro- 
prietors' Record  of  Warrants  and  Surveys,"  (lib.  2, 
f ol.  36, )  a  "  Warrant  to  lay  out  for  Benefit  &  Use  of 
the  Towne  of  ISTewarke  So  much  Land  as  shall  be  Con- 
venient for  Landing  places  within  the  said  Towne, 
Land  for  a  School  House,  for  a  Towne  house,  a  Meet- 
ing house,  a  Market  Place  or  Market  places,  and  two 
hundred  Acres  of  Upland  and  Meadow  in  proportion 
for  a  parsonage."  Reference  to  this  is  made  in  the 
Town  Books  by  an  entry,  on  February  7,  1676-7,  of 
the  api3ointment  of  two  men  "to  go  to  Woodbridge, 
and  inquire  whether  Mr.  Deleplary  hath  caused  what 
he  hath  done  in  Respect  to  what  he  surveyed  for  our 
Towne  Bounds,  to  be  recorded  in  the  Secretary's  Office ; 
and,  if  not,  to  go  to  him,  and  use  Means  to  have  it 
recorded  in  the  Secretary's  Office  Speedily." 

Rev.  Dr.  Stearns  says,  of  the  Newark  survey:  "I 
find  no  evidence  that  any  use  was  made  of  these 
lands  for  religious  purposes,  except  the  erection  of  a 
house  of  worship  and  the  burial  of  the  dead,  on  one  of 
the  smaller  tracts,  until  after  December  10, 1696  ;  when 
a  deed  was  executed  by  the  Proprietors,  conveying  all 
the  above  named  reservations,  with  their  appurten- 
ances, to  John  Curtis,  John  Treat,  Theophilus  Pier- 
son  and  Robert  Young,  their  heirs  and  assigns  for- 
ever, '  to  the  only  proper  use,  benefit  and  behoof  of 
the  Old  Settlers  of  the  towne  of  Newark  aforesaid, 
their  heirs  and  Assigns  forever,  In  Com'n  ;  granted  to 
bee  and  Remaine  to  and  for  the  several  uses  herein 


250  History  of  the  Oranges. 

particularly  expressed,  and  to  be  appropriated  for  no 
other  use  or  uses  whatsoever.'  "^  The  grantees  were 
required  to  pay  a  yearly  rent  of  "six  pence  sterling 
monie  of  England,  for  the  aforesaid  several  tracts  of 
Land  on  every  five  and  twentieth  day  of  March  for- 
ever hereafter,  in  Leiu  and  instead  of  all  other  services 
and  demands  whatsoever."  2 

One  parcel  of  the  Parsonage  lands  conveyed  by  said 
deed  is  described  as  follows : 

"A  Tract  Lyeing  Above  Daniell  Dods  Home  lott  Beginning 
at  Daniel  Dod's  South  West  corner,  thence  running  North  at 
the  East  End  twenty  Eight  chaines  to  the  highway,  thence  as  the 
highway  runes  twentie  six  chaines  to  the  branch  of  the  Mill  Brooke, 
thence  Along  the  Brooke  seaven  chaines  at  the  West  End  to  Sam- 
uell  Huntington's  line ;  bounded  west  by  the  sayd  branch,  North 
by  the  highway,  East  by  Hance  Alberts,  Samuel  and  Daniel  Dod, 
and  by  the  other  Lotts  South." 

There  are  five  other  tracts,  also  intended  for  the 
benefit  of  the  church  and  parson,  and  at  the  close  of 
the  description  of  the  sixth,  is  written:  "Contain- 
ing in  all  the  above  said  tracts  of  upland  and  meadow 
(after  allowances  for  barrens,  highways,  &c.,)  two 
hundred  acres,  being  alloted  for  the  parsonage."  ^ 

In  1707,  the  Town  voted  to  give  John  Cooper  the 
use  of  "a  piece  of  the  Parsonage  Land  for  his  Im- 
provement, for  the  Space  of  Seven  Years;"*  and,  in 
1709,  when  Rev.  Mr.  Bowers  was  called  to  the  pasto- 
rate, he  was  promised  "the  Use  of  the  Parsonage 
House  and  Land. ' '  ^  In  1716-7,  the  Parsonage  Land  was 
ordered  to  be  "run  out  according  to  the  Pattent;"^ 


1.  History  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Newark,  p.  105. 

2.  Newark  Town  Records,  p.  283. 

3.  lb.,  pp.  281  and  282. 

4.  lb.,  p.  120. 

5.  lb.,  p.  121. 

6.  lb.,  p.  128. 


The  Loiver  Parsonage.  251 

and,  in  1742-3,  a  fine  of  20  shillings  was  imposed  upon 
any  one  ''that  cuts  any  Tree  or  Trees,  Spires  or  Hoop- 
Poles  upon  any  part  of  the  Parsonage,  except  so  much 
as  is  necessary  for  diging  or  carying  of  any  Stones 
any  Person  may  want  for  building  or  other  Uses."^ 
Such  trespassing  seems  to  liave  been  persistent,  how- 
ever ;  for  there  is  frequent  mention  of  it  in  subsequent 
Town  Meetings. 

In  1756,  we  find  the  first  recognition  of  the"  claims 
of  the  Orange  Society,  and  the  Episcopal  Church  in 
Newark,  to  two-thirds  of  the  Parsonage  property.  On 
March  9th,  "the  Parsonage  Meadow  was  sold  for  the 
Year  ensuing  to  Nathaniel  Camp,  for  £2,  7s,  to  be 
divided  between  the  3  ministers,  viz :  2  in  the  Town, 
and  one  at  the  Mountain."  ^  It  is  a  well-known  fact, 
that  the  two  new  churches  had  rigorously  pressed  their 
claims  for  an  equal  division  of  the  Parsonage  lands, 
upon  the  ground  of  their  descent  from  a  common  an- 
cestry. They  were  joint  heirs  with  the  Newark  Pres- 
byterians, and  so  entitled  to  participate  in  the  joint 
inheritance.  And,  as  was  said  by  Dr.  MacWhorter, 
concerning  the  introduction  of  Episcopacy  into  this 
Puritan  town,  and  the  fierce  quarrels  which  ensued : 
"This  pious  bustle  was  not  altogether  about  religious 
principles."  3  The  people  of  the  First  Church  con- 
tended, on  their  side,  that  they — and  they  only — were 
the  legitimate  successors  of  the  single  parish,  to  which 


1.  Newark  Town  Records,  p.  135. 

2.  lb.,  p.  142. 

3.  Rev.  Dr.  Stearns  says  :  "  The  claim  seems  first  to  have  been  set  up 
by  the  Church  of  England,  who  took  possession  of  and  enclosed  a  portion 
of  the  wood  land.  But  the  people  at  the  Mountain,  who  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  cut  wood  from  the  Parsonage  lands  for  their  minister,  and  had 
received  for  him  some  of  the  rents  of  the  Parsonage  Meadow,  soon  and 
vigorously  joined  in  the  pursuit."  History  of  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Newark,  p.  226. 


252  History  of  the  Oranges. 

the  property  had  been  originally  given.  At  the  same 
time,  they  thonght  it  a  wise  and  prndent  step  to  fortify 
their  legal  title.  All  of  the  patentees  were  then  dead, 
and  the  heir  of  the  last  survivor  was  a  resident  of 
Morris  County,  and  not  interested  in  the  dispute.  It 
would  complicate  the  situation,  if  he  were  to  make  a 
conveyance  to  either  or  both  of  the  rival  claimants. 

Therefore,  in  1760,  it  was  unanimously  voted  at  the 
Town  Meeting,  that  a  deed  should  be  procured  by  the 
Trustees  of  the  Newark  Church  from  David  Young, 
the  heir-at-law  of  Robert  Young,  the  last  surviving 
patentee,  "for  the  said  Parsonage  Lands,  in  Trust,  in 
Order  that  they  may  be  the  better  enabled  to  take  Care 
of  the  same  for  the  said  Church."  1  The  conveyance 
was  obtained  on  the  very  next  day  after  the  passage 
of  the  resolution.  But  this  did  not  please  those  who 
were  outside  the  congregation  ;  on  the  contrary,  it 
increased  the  public  clamor  for  a  partition. 

On  March  10,  1761,  it  was  duly  entered  upon  the 
minutes  of  the  proceedings  of  a  Town  Meeting,  that 
the  deed  from  David  Young  to  the  Trustees  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Newark  had  been  ob- 
tained ;  but  that,  because  of  its  being  "for  the  T"'^se  of 
One  Society  only,"  it  had  "given  great  dissatisfaction 
to  the  Inhabitants  of  said  Town  in  general."  It  was 
further  stated,  that 

"The  Heirs  and  Descendants  of  the  first  Settlers  of  s^  Town  of 
Newark  have  divided  into  three  several  Societies  within  s^  Town 
for  public  worship  of  God,  distinguished  by  the  Names  of  The 
Church  of  England,  The  first  Presbiterian  Society,  and  the  Moun- 
tain Society."     Whereupon,  it  was  agreed  : — 

"2ndly,  That  as  the  Heirs  and  Descendants  of  the  first  Settlers 
of  Newark  have  three  Societys  or  Congregations  for  the  publick 
Worship  of  God— Each  having  a  distinct  or  separate  Minister  to 

I.  Newark  Town  Records,  p.  143. 


The  Lower  Parsonage.  253 

support, — It  is  voted  and  agreed,  that  the  said  Lands  granted  by 
said  Letters  Patent  to  lye  for  a  Parsonage  be  equally  divided  in 
Quantity  and  Quality,  exclusive  of  the  Improvements  made  therein, 
among  said  three  Societies  or  Congregations." i 

John  Cundit,  Betliuel  Pierson,  Daniel  Pierson,  Esq'r, 
James  Nutman,  John  Crane  and  Elijah  Baldwin  were 
appointed  to  be  the  agents  of  the  Town,  in  making- 
such  division,  and  in  applying  to  the  Governor,  Coun- 
cil and  Assembly  for  its  legal  ratification.  ^  The  record 
is  also  interesting,  because  of  its  statement  that  the 
meeting,  in  1760,  was  held  "during  the  Time  of  the 
Small  Pox  being  in  Town,  and  when  but  very  few  of 
the  Inhabitants  were  present."  A  suggestion  of  mod- 
ern political  trickery  is  found  in  the  further  charge 
that  the  former  meeting  had  been  held  ' '  without  any 
previous  Notice  being  given  to  the  Inhabitants  of  said 
Town  of  any  Intent  of  their  passing  a  Vote  relating 
to  said  Lands  called  the  Parsonage  Lands." 

A  year  later,  (1762,)  four  of  the  agents  reported  to 
the  Town,  duly  assembled,  that  John  Crane  and  Elijah 
Baldwin,  who  belonged  to  the  Newark  Presbyterian 
Society,  had  refused  to  act  with  them  ;  and  that  they 
had  prepared  a  plan  for  the  division  of  the  property. 
But,  "a  Number  of  the  Principal  Members  of  the  first 
Presbiterian  Church  in  New  Ark  Objected  Against 
it;"  and  a  majority  of  the  people  present  decided 
"that  the  Division  should  not  be  confirmed."  ^ 

The  matter  seems  to  have  slept  quietly  until  March 
8,  1768,  when,  at  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Town,  it 
was  "Voted  by  a  great  majority  that  the  Parsonage 
Lands  belonging  to  the  Town  of  Newark  be  divided 
between  the  Three  Congregations  of  the  first  Settlers 

1.  Newark  Town  Records,  p.  144. 

2.  Newark  Town  Records,  p.  145. 

3.  Newark  Town  Records,  p.  146. 


254  History  of  the  Oranges. 

of  Newark,  to  wit :  The  first  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Newark,  the  Church  of  England,  and  the  Mountain 
Society."  Again,  the  Newark  Trustees  "advised  the 
People,  then  met,  to  let  the  Parsonage  alone,  declar- 
ing the  title  to  be  invested  in  them  alone,  and  forbid 
them  passing  the  former  or  any  other  Vote  relating  to 
the  Parsonage."  Six  men — being  two  from  each  of 
the  three  congregations  who  were  concerned — were 
appointed  to  make  such  a  division ;  but  the  Newark 
Presbyterians  again  "declared  they  would  not  act."^ 

Precisely  how  or  when  the  partition  was  effected, 
we  know  not.  It  is  certain,  that  the  same  was  not 
made  in  1768.  The  probability  is,  that  it  was  delayed 
until  the  public  excitement  had  somewhat  abated. 
When  it  was  made,  however,  we  are  told  that  a  tract 
of  86y^o^  acres  was  allotted  to  the  Orange  Society.  But 
no  deed  was  given,  nor  any  lease ;  nor,  so  far  as  can  be 
ascertained,  any  written  agreement  or  memorandum. 
The  Orange  men  were  allowed  to  enter  into  possession 
of  their  property,  and  they  erected  a  fence  upon  the 
exterior  boundary.  They  had  the  satisfaction  of  ob- 
taining some  of  the  best  land  between  Orange  and 
Newark,  lying  ui3on  the  hill,  west  of  High  Street, 
within  the  limits  of  the  latter  city,  and  now  covered 
with  valuable  improvements.  They  gave  to  it  the 
name  of  "the  Lowei'  Parsonage,"  and  by  that  name 
it  was  known  in  their  records  and  accounts. 

Without  any  written  evidence  of  title,  the  position 
of  the  Orange  planters  was  not  an  enviable  one.  Year 
succeeded  year,  and  the  situation  remained  unchanged. 
On  November  4,  1783,  after  the  incorporation  of  their 
Society,  they  "Voted  and  Agree'^  that  at  some  future 
Day  we  will  Examine  in  To  the  affairs  of  the  Lands 


I.  Newark  Town  Records,  p.  150. 


The  Lower  Parsonage.  255 

Belonging  to  this  Parisli,  and  Settle  the  Dispute  that 
might  arise  thereon,"  It  may  have  been  a  fortunate 
circumstance  for  them,  that  a  great  revival  occurred  in 
the  Newark  Church,  in  the  following  year.  At  any 
rate,  the  Newark  people  then  gave  them  a  formal  lease 
for  the  ^'ofi^  acres, — the  instrument  bearing  date  on 
May  8,  1784.  But,  it  was  only  a  lease  at  will, — de- 
terminable at  the  pleasure  of  the  lessors. 

Are  we  surprised  to  hear  that,  on  November  30th, 
of  the  same  year,  the  Orange  Trustees  sent  a  commit- 
tee to  Newark,  "to  treat  with  [the  Newark  Church,] 
lespecting.the  mode  of  receiving  the  parsonage  lands 
allotted  to  this  Congregation?"  Or,  that  a  second 
committee  went  upon  the  same  matter,  four  years 
later ;  and  still  another,  in  1795  ?  It  is  apparent  from 
our  parish  records,  that,  in  the  last-mentioned  year, 
there  was  a  controversy  between  the  two  churches  with 
reference  to  "  a  part  of  our  wood  parsonage,  nearest 
to  the  Town."  Tradition  declares  that  the  Newark 
people  wished  to  recover  some  of  the  more  valuable 
woodland,  which  had  been  set  off  to  Orange  ;  and  that 
they  made  frequent  incursions  upon  the  same, — 
tearing  down  the  fence,  and  cutting  and  removing  the 
wood. 

Rev.  Dr.  Stearns  writes  as  follows : 

"There  is  a  tradition,  for  which  I  am  indebted  to  the  Rev.  Mr. 
White,  now  minister  of  the  First  Church  in  Orange,  that  a  report 
being  spread,  on  one  occasion,  that  the  people  of  Newark  were 
coming  to  cut  wood  on  a  certain  day,  from  a  piece  of  ground 
claimed  and  appropriated  by  that  congregation,  the  sturdy  moun- 
taineers turned  out  early,  with  axes  and  teams,  and  arranged  them- 
selves in  great  numbers  on  the  fence,  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the 
force.  When  the  Newarkers  arrived,  hard  words  began,  and  still 
more  solid  arguments  ensued ;  and  the  Orangemen,  being  either 


256  History  of  the  Oranges. 

more  numerous  or  more  valiant,  fairly  beat  their  opponents  off  the 
ground,  and  sent  them  home  with  their  teams  empty."i 

The  persistent  complaints  of  the  Orange  farmers  had 
an  unexpected  result :  they  made  the  Newark  people 
angry,  and  the  tenancy  at  will  was  canceled.  We 
hnd,  among  our  parish  archives,  a  paper — verified  by 
the  seal  of  the  Newark  Church — of  which  the  follow- 
ing is  a  copy : 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  board  *of  the  Trustees  of  the  first  Presby- 
terian Church  in  Newark,  20th  May,  1797. 

"  The  votes  of  the  Congregation  relative  to  the  part  of  the  Par- 
sonage occupied  by  the  Orange  Society. 

"  It  is  resolved  that  the  said  votes  are  obligatory  on  this  board, 
and  that  they  are  in  duty  bound  to  carry  the  same  into  execution. 

"  Therefore  resolved,  that  the  lease  given  by  this  board  to  the 
Trustees  of  the  second  Presbyterian  Church  in  New  Ark,  for 
eighty  six  acres  &  sixty  hundredths  of  an  acre  of  land,  belonging 
to  the  parsonage  of  this  Church, — which  lease  bears  date  on  or 
about  the  eighth  day  of  May,  Anno  Domini,  1784, — whereby  the 
said  Trustees  last  mentioned  became  tenants  at  will  to  this  board, 
do  cease,  and  the  same  is  hereby  revoked,  and  made  null  and 
void." 

We  may  easily  imagine  the  feelings  of  the  moun- 
taineers, under  such  exasperating  circumstances.  His- 
tory is  silent  as  to  what  was  said  or  done  by  either 
side,  during  the  next  five  years.  It  would  be  unreas- 
onable to  suppose  that  the  Orange  j)arty  abandoned  the 
contest.  They  were  not  men  of  that  stamp.  They 
may  have  loved  peace,  but  they  were  not  afraid  of 
war.  Their  stubbornness  had  been  shown  in  the  long 
struggle  with  the  Proprietors.  Nor  do  we  believe  that 
they  surrendered  the  possession  of  the  lands  which  had 
been  set  off  to  them.  Nor  that  the  fighting  parson 
(Mr.  Chapman,)  ever  wanted  a  substantial  back-log, 

I.   History  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Newark,  p.  22C. 


The  Lower  Parsonage.  257 

for  Ms  kitchen  fire-place.  He  was  the  right  kind  of 
a  man  to  encourage  his  people,  in  such  an  emergency.  ^ 
In  the  spring  of  1802,  the  Newark  Trustees  made 
an  offer  of  compromise  ;  and  the  action  which  was  had 
thereupon  is  thus  recorded  in  the  minutes  of  the 
Orange  Church : 

"Monday,  June  7th,  1802.  It  having  been  represented  some 
time  since  from  the  Trustees  of  Newark,  that  it  was  their  wish  to 
accomidate  the  difference  existing  between  Newark  Church  &  the 
Church  of  Orange  respecting  the  lower  Parsonage ;  the  Trustees 
of  this  Congregation  appointed,  from  their  Board,  John  Lindsley, 


'd^^la^^^^ 


Esqr.  Aaron  Mun,  Esq"".  &  Isaac  Pierson,  a  committee  to  meet 
the  Trustees  of  Newark,  at  Seabury's  tavern,  to  confer  with  them 
on  the  subject,  to  hear  their  proposals,  &  to  agree  as  they,  viz  :  the 
committee  from  this  board  should  think  advisable. 

"The  committee  met  the  Newark  Trustees,  at  the  time  &  place 
appointed  ;  and  the  Trustees  of  Newark  made  the  following  prop- 
osition,— that  we  should  relinquish  our  claim  to  that  part  of  the 
Parsonage  called  the  Gore,  or  triangular  piece  at  the  East  End  of 
the  lot,  containing  about  ten  acres  ;  &  that,  in  consideration  of  our 
doing  this,  they  would  give  us  as  good  a  title  for  the  residue  which 
we  had  in  possession,  as  they  could  give  us  by  law. 

"The  committee  from  this  Board  thought  it  advisable  to  accept 
of  the  same;  and  appointed  John  Lindsley  &  Aaron  Mun,  on  our 
part,  to  meet,  on  the  ground,  a  committee  from  their  Board,  & 
ascertain  the  line  of  division  agreeable  to  their  present  proposals. 


I.   In  January,  1790,  the  Trustees  "  Voted  that  Mr.  Chapman  shall  have 
all  the  profits  of  the  Parsonage,  only  excepting  the  Stone." 

17 


258  History  of  the    Oranges. 

"John  Lindsley  &  Aaron  Mun  report  that  they  met,  &  did  ascer- 
tain the  future  line  of  division,  &  marked  out  the  same ;  &  the 
Trustees  of  Newark  agreed  that  we  should  take  up  &  use  the  fence 
which  was  standing  round  the  part  of  the  Parsonage  lot  which  we 
had  relinquished." 

It  is  said  that,  as  the  outcome  of  this  friendly  negotia- 
tion, a  regular  lease,  under  seal,  was  given  in  the  same 
year,  (1802,)  to  the  Orange  Society,  for  the  portion  of 
the  property  which  they  had  agreed  to  accept  in  set- 
tlement. It  was  a  lease  for  twenty- one  years,  with  a 
covenant  of  renewal ;  and  at  a  yearly  rent  of  six  pence, 
if  required  to  be  paid.  But,  there  is  one  singular  thing 
about  it.  The  Orange  people  had  consented  to  yield 
their  claim  to  ' '  that  part  of  the  Parsonage  called  the 
Grore,  a  triangular  Piece  at  the  East  End  of  the  lot,  con- 
taining about  Ten  acres  ;' '  and  their  committee  ' '  did 
ascertain  the  future  line  of  division,  &  marked  out 
the  same."  And,  yet,  when  the  lease  was  delivered, 
it  covered  only  hf  ty-six  acres, — being  more  than  thirty 
acres  less  than  their  original  holding. 

In  justice  to  the  Newark  Church  it  should  be  said, 
that,  at  this  time,  there  was  a  doubt  in  the  minds  of 
the  lawyers  who  were  consulted  upon  the  subject, 
whether  a  permanent  conveyance  of  the  property  could 
be  made,  in  fee  simple.  Hence,  the  use  of  a  perpetual 
lease, — renewable  at  stated  periods, — instead  of  the 
ordinary  deed  of  bargain  and  sale.  The  first  term  of 
twenty- one  years  expired  in  1823,  and,  on  September 
Ist,  of  that  year,  the  Newark  Church  made  a  nev^ 
lease  (which  is  now  in  existence,)  to  the  Orange  So- 
ciety, for  the  same  fifty- six  acres  of  land  — 

"  On  the  hill  above  the  Town  of  Newark,  ...  In  trust  and 
to  and  for  the  Use  of  the  Minister  for  the  time  being  of  the  said 
[Orange]   Church,  from  the  day  before   the  date  hereof  for  and 


The  Lower  Parsonage.  259 

during  and  until  the  full  end  and  term  of  twenty-one  years,     .     . 
yielding  and  paying  therefore  yearly  and  every  year  during  the 
said  term     .     .    the  rent  or  sum  of  six  pence,  if  demanded." 

There  was  also  a  covenant  on  the  part  of  the  lessors, 
for  the  perpetual  renewal  of  the  lease,  upon  the  same 
rent  and  conditions,  for  successive  terms  of  twenty- 
one  years  each.    And  the  lessees  covenanted — 

"  That  they  will  join  with  the  [lessors,]  to  defend  the  remainder 
of  the  lands  commonly  called  and  known  by  the  name  of  the  Par- 
sonage lands  in  Newark  as  contained  in  the  original  patents  and 
which  are  retained  by  the  said  [lessors,]  against  the  legal  claim  of 
every  person  whatever ;  and  in  case  any  person  or  persons  shall 
set  up  any  claim  to  the  remainder  of  the  said  lands,  under  a  de- 
mand of  or  claim  to  said  Parsonage  lands  as  such,  or  any  part 
thereof,  and  contest  the  same,  so  that  the  said  [lessors,]  or  their 
successors,  shall  be  put  to  any  cost  or  expence  in  defending  the 
same,  that  then  the  said  [lessees,]  and  their  successors,  shall  and 
will  pay  their  part  of  the  said  expence,  in  proportion  to  the  num- 
ber of  acres  hereby  leased  to  them,  when  compared  to  the  whole 
tract  of  the  said  Parsonage  lands."  There  is  a  further  provision, 
that  the  lease  shall  be  avoided  in  case  of  a  neglect  by  the  lessees, 
for  forty  days,  to  pay  their  due  proportion  of  such  cost  of  litigation. 

In  1825,  the  Legislature  passed  "An  act  for  the  re- 
lief of  the  Trustees  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Newark  ;' '  whereby  the  said  Trustees  were  author- 
ized to  convey,  in  fee,  unto  the  Episcopal  Church  in 
Newark,  the  two  Presbyterian  Societies  in  JN'ewark, 
and  the  Orange  Society,  "  in  as  full  and  ample  a  man- 
ner as  they  have  a  title  thereto,  such  parts  and  por- 
tions of  the  lands  held  by  the  said  [Trustees,]  under 
grant  from  the  Proprietors  of  East  New  Jersey  for  a 
parsonage  and  burying  place,  (and  which  were  granted 
to  the  said  [Trustees,]  on  or  about  the  tenth  day  of 
December,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  six 
hundred  and  ninety-six,)  as  had  been  or  might  be  set 
apart  or  designed    for   the   use"    of    the  said  four 


26o  History  of  the  Oranges. 

societies.  It  was  also  declared  in  tiie  same  statute 
that  the  lands,  so  to  be  conveyed,  should  be  held 
' '  solely  and  forever  for  the  support  of  the  Gospel  in 
the  said  congregations,  or  religious  societies,  respect- 
ively, and  for  no  other  use  or  purpose." 

In  pursuance  of  the  authority,  so  given,  the  Trustees 
of  the  Newark  Church,  in  and  by  their  certain  deed, 
dated  August  29,  1826,  and  duly  recorded  in  the  pub- 
lic records  of  the  county,  granted  and  conveyed  unto 
the  Trustees  of  the  Orange  Society,  the  same  fifty-six 
acres  of  land ;  referring  to  a  map,  made  by  Isaac 
Ward,  and  attached  to  said  deed,  but  wMch  has  been 
torn  therefrom  by  some  surveyor  or  land  speculator. 
The  conveyance  is  in  fee  simple  ;  but  "in  trust,  never- 
theless, to  be  lield  solely  and  forever  for  the  support 
of  the  Gospel  in  the  said  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
or  Congregation,  in  Orange,  and  for  no  other  use  or 
purpose."  It  was  acknowledged  by  the  president  of 
the  board  of  the  Newark  Trustees,  on  August  30, 1826  ; 
and  was  recorded  on  the  second  day  thereafter. 

Tlie  Orange  Trustees  sold  "fifteen  acres,  more  or 
less,"  thereof  to  WiUiam  Peck,  on  April  23,  1833,  for 
^460.00,  or  at  the  rate  of  $30  per  acre ;  and  the  remain- 
ing forty-four  acres  to  Ashbel  W.  Corey,  on  Novem- 
ber 3,  1835,  for  $8,360.00,  or  at  the  rate  of  $190  per 
acre.  A  mortgage  for  purchase  money  was  given 
upon  the  forty-four  acres ;  and,  under  a  foreclosure, 
the  property  was  recovered  by  the  Trustees,  in  1839. 
They  held  the  same  until  August  31,  1841,  when  they 
sold  it  to  Philip  Kingsley,  Esquire,  ^  for  $2,200.00,  or 


1.  Mr.  Kingsley  was  a  native  of  Vermont.  He  studied  law  in  the  office 
of  Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  Esq.,  of  Newark,  and  came  to  Orange  in  1S28. 
He  was  our  earliest  resident  lawyer,  and  had  a  large  and  proiitable  practice. 
He  married  Romana  A.,  one  of  the  daughters  of  John  Morris  Lindsley,  and 
by  her  had  three  children  ;  of  whom  two,  namely  :  George  P.  and  Philip,  are 
now  living.     He  died,  suddenly,  on  May  24,  1852. 


The  Name  of  Orange.  261 

at  the  rate  of  $50  per  acre.  He  re-sold  it,  in  parcels, 
between  1844  and  1850,  at  the  average  price  of  $88.30 
per  acre.  It  would  be  difRcnlt  to  estimate  the  ralue  of 
the  forty-four  acres,  at  the  preseut  time. 

THE  NAME   OF   OEANGE. 

The  Rev.  Mr,  Hoyt  says:  "The  settlement  near 
the  Mountain  had  begun,  [in  1784,]  to  assume  the 
character  of  a  village,  and  to  be  known  by  the  name 
it  now  bears.  By  whom,  or  from  what  circumstance 
the  name  was  first  bestowed,  we  have  no  means  of 
ascertaining."  1 

Until  that  time  the  parish  had  been  known  as  "the 
West  Society  of  Newark  at  the  Mountains,"  {ante., 
page  191;)  or  "the  Society  at  the  Newark  Moun- 
tain," {It.  pages  130  and  136;)  or  "y^  Church  and 
Congregation  of  y^  people  of  Newark  Mountains," 
(75.  page  192.)  In  1783,  it  was  incorporated  by  the 
Legislature  as  "the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Newark." 

It  is  said  that  the  earliest  known  use  of  the  word  : 
"OraTip'e,"  in  connection  with  the  Mountain  Society, 
was  on  May  7,  1782  ;  when  the  New  York  Presbytery 
"adjourned,  to  meet  at  Orange  Dale,  alias  Newark 
Mountain."  The  first  mention  of  it,  in  any  local 
record,  is  in  a  subscription-paper,  dated  at  "Orange, 
Nov.  17,  1784  ;"  the  object  being  the  raising  of  moneys 
for  the  building  of  a  parish  boat.  In  connection  with 
the  same  matter  we  read  that,  on  December  22,  1784, 
there  was  "a  iiublick  meeting  of  the  Parish  of  Or- 
ange." Twelve  days  later  there  was  another  parish 
meeting,  and  it  was  then  "voted"  that  "the  man- 
agers of  the  Sloop  Orange  are  authorized  to  ajDpoint 


I.  Hoyt's  History  of  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Orange,  N.  J.,  p.  138. 


262  History  of  the  Oranges. 

Boatmen."  In  1787,  the  Society  purchased,  from 
Isaac  Williams,  "a  Lott  of  land,  adjoining  the  Par- 
sonage house  whereon  the  dwelling  house  now  stand- 
eth  by  the  highway,  .  .  in  the  bounds  of  Newark, 
at  a  place  called  Orange." 

Tradition  declares  that  it  was  the  "fighting  parson" 
Chapman,  who  was  the  most  determined  champion  of 
the  name:  "Orange  Dale."  He  was  present  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Presbytery,  in  1782 ;  and  it  was  prob- 
ably he  who  procured  the  selection  of  Orange  Dale  as 
the  place  of  its  next  meeting.  The  sermon,  which  is 
to  be  found  on  page  205  of  this  volume,  was  delivered 
by  him  on  "Lord's  Day,  21  Nov.,  1791  ;  Orange  Dale, 
P.M."  In  1796,  and  as  the  president  of  the  trustees 
of  "the  Academy  at  Orange  Dale,"  he  advertised  its 
opening  session,  in  the  Newark  Gazette.  And  there 
is  an  oft- told  tale  that,  when  the  people  came  together, 
on  one  occasion,  in  order  to  discuss  whether  the  village 
should  be  called  "Orange"  or  "Orange  Dale,"  he  was 
the  most  excited  of  the  whole  party  ;  and  that,  as  the 
meeting  broke  up  in  confusion,  and  without  having 
come  to  any  decision,  he  shouted  out,  in  "his  trumpet 
tones :  "Well !  we'll  call  it  Orange  Dale,  any  way !" 
So  it  was  under  the  spell  of  his  influence,  that,  in  1801, 
and  after  he  had  gone  to  Western  New  York,  "the 
Congregation  of  Orange  Dale"  extended  its  call  to 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Hillyer.  Even  in  April,  1805,  he  re- 
corded in  his  diary :  "I  attended  the  Lord's  Supper 
at  Orange  Dale,  with  the  dear  people  of  my  former 
charge."  The  Legislature  finally  decided  the  matter 
in  1806,  by  passing  an  act  to  incorporate  "the  town- 
ship of  Orange." 

In  the  Town  Records  of  Newark  we  find  that,  in 
1790,    "John  Ogden,  (O.    Mountain,)"  had  been  ap- 


The  Name  of  Orange.  263 

pointed  to  the  office  of  road  overseer.  ^  In  1798,  the 
Town  Meeting  voted  "That  the  next  Annual  Election 
for  the  State  Legislature  be  opened  at  the  House  of 
Samuel  Mann,  at  Orange,  and  held  there  during  the 
first  day  of  the  same."  At  the  same  meeting  permis- 
sion was  "granted  for  the  erection  of  two  more  public 
Pounds,  Viz:  One  on  the  Common  between  Samuel 
Munn's  and  Moses  Williams's,  at  Orange." ^  From 
this  time  onward  the  name  of  Orange  occurs  fre- 
quently in  the  Town  books. 

But,  whence  came  the  name  ?  We  may  say,  in  re- 
ply, that  it  was  familiar  to  the  earliest  "freemen  or 
free  Burgesses  within  our  Town  upon  Passaic  River." 
They  traded  with  the  Dutch  at  "Fort  Orange,"  now 
Albany,  N.  Y.,— and  at  "Orange"  or  "New  Orange," 
now  the  City  of  New  York.  In  1673-4,  they  sent  sev- 
eral ambassadors  to  "the  Generals,"  at  the  latter 
place,  in  order  to  buy  some  "land  upon  the  Neck," 
which  they  coveted.  ^ 

At  a  subsequent  period,  and  in  common  with  all 
Protestants,  they  worshiped  William,  the  Prince  of 
Orange,  who  was  first  the  ally,  and  then  the  King  of 
England.  He  was  looked  upon  as  the  head  of  the  Re- 
formed Church.  His  name  and  titles  became  "house- 
hold words  "  in  N  ew  Jersey.  The  first  building  which 
was  erected  (1757,)  for  the  College  at  Princeton,  was 
called  Nassau  Hall,  to  express  "the  honor  we  retain  in 
this  remote  part  of  the  Globe,  to  the  immortal  memory 
of  the  glorious  King  William  the  Third,  who  was  a 
branch  of  the  illustrious  house  of  Nassau,  and  who, 
under  God,  was  the  great  deliverer  of  the  British 


1.  Newark  Town  Records,  p.  i68. 

2.  lb.,  p.  177- 

3.  lb.,  pp.  50,  51.  55- 


264  History  of  the  Oraitges. 

Nation  from  those  two  monstrous  furies,  Popery  and 
Slavery,"  It  happened  that  our  first  pastor,  Caleb 
Smith,  was  not  only  a  trustee  of  the  College,  but  also  a 
son-in-law  of  its  president.  Perhaps  it  was  Mr.  Smith 
who  first  proposed  the  name  of  "Orange,"  for  the 
beautiful  neighborhood  which  he  had  deliberately 
chosen  as  his  home,  and  in  which  he  ended  his  life 
work ;  and  it  may  be  that  the  suggestion  was  availed 
of  by  his  successor,  Mr.  Chairman,  who  vainly  sought 
to  improve  upon  it  by  the  change  to  "Orange  Dale." 
It  is  a  pleasing  reflection,  that,  in  all  our  local  jeal- 
ousies and  controversies,  we  have  retained  a  loyal 
attachment  to  the  old  name.  Three  townships  have 
been  carved  out  of  the  original  territory ;  but,  as  East, 
West  and  South  Orange,  they  still  claim  kinship  with 
the  central  city,  and  assert  their  right  to  be  treated 
as  members  of  the  same  family.  It  is  indeed  true,  that 
there  are  now  four  municipalities  ;  but,  after  all,  there 
is  and  can  be  only  one  Orange. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


THE  TOWNSHIP   OF   OEANGE. 


ON  November  27, 1806,  the  old  Township  of  Newark 
was  divided  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  and  a 
new  township  was  created,  to  be  known  under  and  by 
the  name  of  Orange. 

Section  i.  Defines  the  boundaries  as  follows  :  "Be- 
ginning at  a  spring  called  the  Boiling  Spring,  i  on  the 
land  of  Stephen  D.  Day ;  running  thence  in  a  straight 
line  southardly  to  the  bridge  on  the  highway  near  Da- 
vid Peck's  ;2  thence  running  southardly  in  a  straight 
line  to  a  bridge  in  the  highway,  near  Sayers  Roberts' , 
in  Camptown ;  thence  southardly  in  a  straight  line  to 
Elizabeth  township  line,  where  it  crosses  Elizabeth 
river  ;  thence  along  the  line  of  Elizabeth  township  to 
the  line  of  Springfield  township ;  thence  along  the  line 
of  Caldwell  township  to  a  point  on  the  First  Mountain, 
called  Stephen  Crane's  notch  ;  thence  southardly  to 
Turkey  Eagle  Rock ;  thence  eastwardly  to  a  bridge  in 
the  highway  near  Phineas  Crane' s ;  ^  thence  eastwardly 
to  a  bridge  on  the  highway  between  the  houses  of  Silas 
Dod  and  Nathaniel  Dod  ;  thence  to  the  Boiling  Spring, 
the  place  of  beginning," 

1.  This  spring  is  situated  about  one  thousand  feet  southeast  of  the  works 
of  the  "  Orange  Water  Company,"  in  East  Orange. 

2.  Great  Meadow  Brook  bridge. 

3.  This  bridge  crosses  the  northeast  corner  of  the  recent  addition  to  Rose- 
dale  Cemetery,  on  the  Orange  and  Montclair  road. 


266  History   of  the   Oranges. 

Section  ii.  Describes  the  powers  and  privileges  of 
the  new  corporation,  and  refers  to  an  act  entitled  ' '  An 
act  incorporating  the  inhabitants  of  townships,"  etc., 
passed  in  February,  1789. 

Section  iii.  Appoints  the  first  town  meeting  to  be 
held  on  the  "second  Monday  of  April  next,  at  the 
house  of  Samuel  Munn,  in  Orange." 

Section  iv.  Provides  for  the  division  of  the  poor, 
between  the  two  townships,  and  for  the  support  of 
such  as  should  be  set  off  to  Orange. 

It  had  long  been  the  custom,  in  the  Township  of 
Newark,  to  hold  the  annual  elections  for  members  of 
the  Legislature,  etc.,  during  three  days,  at  the  Court 
House  in  Newark.  The  increase  in  the  population 
was  such,  however,  that  in  1798,  the  town  had  ordered 
that  on  one  of  the  three  days  the  election  should  be  held 
in  Orange,  and  in  Newark  on  the  other  two.  This 
arrangement  was  continued  until  the  township  was 
divided.  In  Orange  the  polls  were  held  at  the  house 
of  Samuel  Munn,  now  the  Park  House,  or  the  house 
of  Bethuel  Pierson,  now  the  Central  Hotel. 

ISTEWAEK   AND   MT.    PLEASANT  TUENPIKE. 

In  the  same  year  when  the  Township  of  Orange  was 
set  off,  a  charter  was  granted  for  the  construction  of  a 
turnpike  road  from  Newark  to  Morristown. 

In  the  early  years  of  this  century,  there  was  a  gen- 
eral desire  to  facilitate  the  communication  between  the 
cities  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  and  to  open  the 
interior  of  New  Jersey  by  easier  methods  for  the  trans- 
portation of  its  agricultural  and  mining  products  to 
tide-water.  The  city  of  New  York  was  liberal  in  the 
employment  of  its  capital  for  all  such  purposes.  From 
1801  to  1828,  fffty-four  charters  for  turnpikes  were 
granted  by  the  Assembly ;  thirty-five  of  which  were 


Newark  and  Mt.  Pleasant  Turnpike.     267 

passed  during  the  first  thirteen  years  of  the  century. 
The  demand  for  turnpikes  at  that  time  was  not  unlike 
that  for  railroads  in  these  latter  days.  And  of  the 
whole  number  of  turnpikes  so  authorized,  more  than 
half  were  actually  constructed. 

The  Newark  and  Mt.  Pleasant  road  passed  through 
Orange,  and  was  laid,  for  the  most  part,  on  the  old 
highway  which  had  been  surveyed  in  1705.  Orange 
Street  in  Newark,  from  a  point  about  four  hundred  feet 
above  High  Street,  was  then  opened,  as  it  now  runs,  ^ 
and  was  "  worked"  as  far  as  its  intersection  with  the 
old  Crane  Road,  heretofore  described.  {Ante,  page  47. ) 
From  the  latter  point,  the  turnpike  was  laid  out  anew 
for  a  distance  of  about  six  hundred  feet,  leaving  the 
old  road  to  the  north.  This  part  still  remains  open 
to  public  use,  and  is  honored  with  the  name  of  Hed- 
den  Place.  No  other  change  was  made  until  the 
turnpike  reached  the  open  space  in  front  of  St.  Mark's 
Church,  in  West  Orange,  where  it  left  the  old  route 
toward  "Wheeler's,"  and,  turning  to  the  north,  took 
a  direct  course  to  the  base  of  the  Mountain.  In  this 
way  was  formed  the  triangular  plot  of  land,  bounded 
by  the  Valley  Road  on  the  east,  Condit  Place  on  the 
northeast,  and  the  turnpike  on  the  west.  The  turnpike 
was  continued  to  Morristown,  and  thence,  by  the 
Washington  Turnpike,  to  the  Delaware  River.  This 
was  for  many  years  the  principal  means  of  travel 
from  Easton,  Pa.,  and  from  Warren,  Sussex  and 
Morris  Counties,  to  the  Passaic  River,  and  the  waters 
of  New  York  Bay. 

Another  great  thoroughfare  from  the  interior  was 
down  the  Pequanac  River,  over  the  Paterson  and  Ham- 


I.  The  crown  of  the  hill  has  been  much  reduced,  and  the  whole  street 
graded,  since  about  1855  ;  but  the  lines  are  unchanged. 


268  History  of  the  Oranges. 

bnrg  Turnpike,  to  the  head  of  Poin]3ton  Valley ;  and 
thence  by  the  Pompton  and  Newark  Turnpike  through 
Bloomfield  and  Newark  to  New  York. 

In  the  fall  and  winter  seasons  these  roads,  for  the 
first  three  days  of  each  week,  were  alive  with  teams 
and  heavy  Jersey  wagons,  carrying  butter,  grain,  flour, 
pork  and  other  farm  produce  to  market.  The  last  three 
days  of  the  week  witnessed  their  return,  freighted 
with  sugar,  molasses,  Jamaica  rum  and  merchandise, 
of  all  kinds,  for  the  shop-keepers  in  the  interior. 

The  traffic  was  economically  managed.  The  feed 
for  the  teams  was  carried  upon  the  wagons,  and  often 
the  food  for  the  men  who  drove  them.  One  shilling 
was  the  uniform  rate,  at  the  way- side  inns,  for  each 
stabling  and  lodging  per  night,  as  well  as  for  a  single 
meal  at  table.  The  evenings  at  these  inns  were  festive 
occasions.  The  bar-room  was  primitive  in  construc- 
tion and  furniture  ;  but  it  was  well  warmed  by  stove 
or  open  fire-place,  and  often  crowded  with  guests. 
Frequent  tumblers  of  hot  toddy, — made  from  apple 
jack  or  whiskey, — opened  the  hearts  and  loosened  the 
tongues  of  the  assemblage ;  and  song  and  story  fol- 
lowed each  other  in  quick  succession,  until  the  neces- 
sity for  sleep,  as  a  preparation  for  the  next  day's 
work  upon  the  road,  drove  the  merry-makers  to  their 
unwelcome  beds. 

Previous  to  the  extension  of  the  Morris  and  Essex 
Railroad  to  Phillipsburg,  these  caravans  of  Warren 
and  Sussex  wagons  were  a  bi-weekly  spectacle  on  the 
main  street  of  the  Oranges.  We  have  been  told  by 
old  residents  who  remember  them,  that  they  have 
sometimes  seen  as  many  as  thirty  teams  in  line.  But 
the  turnpikes  were  beaten  by  the  railroad.  The  char- 
ters were  surrendered  ;  the  gates  taken  down  ;''and  the 
roads  abandoned  to  the  public.     And  the  country  tav- 


THE    THIRD    MEETING-HOUSE  ;     1813. 


The   Third  Meeting- House.  269 

eins,  thus  deprived  of  their  principal  source  of  in- 
come, have  either  gone  out  of  business  entirely,  or 
have  lost  their  old-time  gayety  and  prosperity. 

THE  THIRD   MEETING-HOUSE. 

In  1811,  the  corporate  title  of  the  Orange  Congre- 
gation was  changed  from  the  "Second  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Newark,"  to  the  "Fii'st  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Orange." 

In  that  year,  the  pastor  felt  it  to  be  a  duty  to  pro- 
vide another  and  more  appropriate  edifice  for  the  wor- 
ship of  Gfod.  The  needs  of  the  town,  by  reason  of  its 
increasing  population,  seemed  to  him  to  demand  it. 
The  second  meeting-house  had  now  stood  for  fifty- 
eight  years.  The  congregation  had  outgrown  it ;  and 
it  was  homely  in  style,  and  compared  unfavorably 
with  the  churches  of  Newark  and  other  neighboring- 
places.  Dr.  Hilly er,  thereupon,  proposed  the  erection 
of  a  new  building.  Mr.  Hoyt  says :  "Some  approved, 
and  some  objected.  Some  thought  it  feasible,  and 
some  impossible.  He  asked  certain  persons  of  the 
latter  class  if  they  would  favor  the  undertaking,  pro- 
vided he  w^ould  secure  the  subscription  of  a  certain 
sum  of  money,  which  he  named."  1 

He  began  his  effort  on  a  Monday  morning,  and, 
before  the  close  of  the  week,  he  had  secured  more  than 
twice  the  sum  he  required.  Jared  Harrison  subscribed 
S500  ;  Aaron  Harrison  and  Stephen  D.  Day,  $300  each ; 
and  six  others  gave  $200  each.     This  prompt  response 


I.  The  old  church  building  was  in  the  middle  of  the  street.  Its  west  end 
was  nearly  on  a  line  with  the  east  line  of  Day  street.  The  broadside  of  the 
building,  (called  the  "  backside,"  in  the  resolution  of  the  parish  meeting,) 
having  two  ranges  of  windows,  one  above  the  other,  was  directly  opposite 
our  present  Music  Hall.  The  entrance  door  was  in  the  centre  of  the  south 
side,  thus  fronting  the  site  of  the  building  now  occupied  by  the  Orange 
Savings  Bank. 


270  History  of  the  Oranges. 

led  to  a  speedy  and  cordial  determination  to  build 
a  new  churcli ;  one  which  should  be  worthy  of  the 
growing  town  and  of  a  prosperous  congregation. 

The  parish,  at  a  meeting  held  on  May  29,  1811,  em- 
powered the  trustees  to  expend  of  the  parish  funds  the 
sum  of  $250  for  the  purchase  of  a  site  on  the  "back- 
side" of  the  old  meeting-house.     The  lot,  (one  acre 


and  a  quarter,)  was  purchased  of  Stephen  D.  Day,  in 
the  same  year.  The  price  paid  was  $400.  It  is  de- 
scribed as  bounded  on  the  east,  north  and  west  by 
lands  of  Stephen  D.  Day,  and  south  by  "the  Com- 
mons the  meeting-house  stands  on." 

Little  more  seems  to  have  been  done  that  required 
the  action  of  the  parish  before  its  annual  meeting, 
on  April  9,  1812.  Then  the  Trustees  reported  that  the 
Society  was  free  from  debt,  and  that  its  assets  were  as 
follows : 

Bonds  and  mortgages,         .         .        $5,684  49 
Notes  against  different  persons,  151  56 

Judgments  obtained,  .        .         .      80  00 

Arrears  in  tax  lists,  subscriptions  not 

called  in, 59  10 

Money  on  hand,  .         .         .         .       10  96 

$5,986  11 

On  June  4,  1812,  it  was  resolved  "to  proceed  to 
build  a  church,  agreeable  to  our  subscription  for  that 
purpose."  Moses  Dodd  was  appointed  superintending 
architect ;  he  was  to  receive  for  his  services  three  dol- 
lars a  day.     The  corner  stone  was  laid  on  September 


The  Third  Meeting- House.  271 

15th  of  the  same  year.  The  work  of  construction  was 
prosecuted  during  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1813.  ^ 
On  January  7,  1814,  it  was  dedicated  to  God  for  its 
sacred  uses.  ^     The  steeple  remained  in  an  unfinished 

state  till  the  next  year, 
when  it  was  completed 
yf  at  an  additional  expense 

//  of  $2,750.       The   parish 

voted,  April  14, 1814,  that  "the  overplus  money  raised 
by  the  sale  of  the  pews  remain  in  the  hands  of  the 
Trustees  to  defray  the  expense  of  finishing  the  house, 
purchasing  a  belP  and  chandeliers,  and  fencing  the 
lot." 


^d<i^c^ 


1.  The  usual  Fourth  of  July  celebration  was  held  in  that  year;  but  the 
old  meeting-house,  which  had  heretofore  served  that  purpose,  was  disman- 
tled, and  no  other  place  seemed  to  be  available.  A  barn,  however,  was  being 
built  on  Day  Street,  about  two  hundred  feet  north  of  Main  Street,  and  op- 
posite to  the  rising  foundations  of  the  new  church  edifice.  Fortunately,  this 
barn  was  so  near  completed  that  shelter  and  standing  room  could  be  afforded 
to  those  who  were  disposed  to  honor  the  day.  The  Newark  "Sentinel  of 
Freedom,"  in  giving  an  account  of  this  celebration,  informs  us  that  Dr. 
Isaac  Pierson  was  the  orator  of  the  day  ;  Dr.  Daniel  Babbit,  the  reader  of 
the  Declaration  ;  Capt.  Thomas  Williams,  the  bearer  of  the  Cap  of  Liberty  ; 
and  John  Lindsley,  Esq.,  with  Major  Abraham  Winans,  the  bearers  of  the 
National  Standard. 

2.  The  above  named  newspaper,  under  date  of  December  28,  1813,  says  : 
"  The  new  Church  in  Orange  will  be  dedicated  on  the  first  Thursday  in 
January  next  ;  the  services  to  begin  at  11  o.c.  in  the  forenoon,  when  a  Col- 
lection will  be  made  for  the  benefit  of  the  same." 

The  same  newspaper,  under  date  of  January  13,  1814,  has  the  following: 
"  On  Thursday,  the  7th  inst.,  we  are  informed  the  NEW  Presbyterian  Church 
at  Orange  was  opened,  with  an  appropriate  sermon  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hillyer, 
in  the  presence  of  a  large  and  respectable  audience.  That,  on  the  16th  of 
December,  all  the  pews,  except  sixteen  reserved  for  free  seats,  were  sold  for 
$2,500,  the  same  being  $2,000  above  the  estimated  expense  of  the  house, 
which  had  been  laid  upon  the  pews  by  an  apportionment  subject  to  an  annuity 
of  ^\  per  ct.  This  annuity,  with  other  funds  of  the  Congregation,  is  deemed 
sufficient  to  support  the  Gospel  among  them.  We  are  happy  to  add  that 
greater  unanimity  was,  perhaps,  never  witnessed  on  a  similar  occasion." 

3.  The  bell  of  the  old  meeting-house  had  been  broken  up,  and  the  metal 
was  used  in  casting  a  larger  one.  * 


272  History  of  the  Oranges. 

The  exterior  architecture  of  the  church  was  after 
the  plans  of  the  Murray  Street  Presbyterian  Church  in 
New  York  city,  which  had  just  been  built  for  its  pastor, 
the  justly  celebrated  John  M.  Mason,  D.D.,  and  had 
been  opened  for  worship  in  1812.  The  seats  and  the 
pulpit  were  in  close  imitation  of  the  New  York  pat- 
tern. The  pulpit  was  high,  ai^proached  by  staks,  and 
placed  between  the  entrance  doors,  at  the  front  of  the 
building.  The  congregation  thus  faced  the  south. 
The  floor  of  the  auditorium  was  laid  on  an  inclined 
plane,  with  a  rise  from  the  front  to^  the  rear  of  two  and 
a  half  feet.  This  was,  at  that  time,  a  common  mode  of 
laying  the  floors  of  churches.  The  inside  work,  un- 
like that  of  the  New  York  model,  was  plain  and 
homely.  The  windows  were  of  inferior  glass — the 
panes  being  only  7x9,  or  8x10  inches.  The  walls 
were  of  common  plaster,  tinted  with  a  blue  wash.  As 
far  as  possible,  the  seats  of  the  old  meeting-house 
were  utilized. 

The  admirable  symmetry  of  the  room,  its  high  walls, 
with  plainly  finished  galleries  on  its  rear  end  and 
sides,  were  in  striking  contrast  with  the  old  home.  To 
the  fathers  and  mothers,  and  to  the  sons  and  daugh- 
ters, too,  all  these  improvements  were  things  of  beauty, 
and  won  their  admiration  and  their  pride. 

MODERN  LOCAL  INDUSTRIES. 

GRIST-MILLS. 

For  about  a  century,  the  farmers  of  the  Orange 
Mountain  carried  their  grists  to  Watsessing.  The  mill 
now  standing,  unused,  on  Day  Street,  near  Washing- 
ton Street,  was  the  first  erected  in  Orange,  and  was 
built  about  1780.  It  had,  originally,  four  associate 
owners:  Thomas  Williams,  on  whose  land  it  was 
placed,    Isaac  Williams,   Joseph   Hedden  and  Zenas 


Leather  and  Tanneries.  273 

Ward.  The  associates  ran  the  mill  "week  about,"  in 
turn,  and  received  its  earnings  accordingly.  Needful 
repairs  were  met  by  equal  assessments  upon  the  four 
owners.  Thomas  Williams  retained  his  one-quarter 
interest,  and  it  descended  to  his  heirs.  The  other  three 
associates  sold  their  respective  shares ;  some  of  which 
passed  through  many  hands.  They  finally  came  into 
the  possession  of  Wm.  Brown  Williams,  who  sold 
them  to  Jesse  Williams,  a  grandson  of  the  primitive 
associate,  Thomas.  When  the  mill  was  built,  the  water 
power  was  derived  from  Parrow  and  Wigwam  Brooks. 
The  latter  supply  was  diverted  from  the  pond,  sev- 
eral years  since,  by  the  improvement  of  the  meadows 
through  which  the  mill-race  passed. 

Col.  John  Condit,  also,  built  a  grist-mill  in  the  early 
years  of  the  present  century,  upon  the  stream  near 
which  the  chalybeate  spring  is  situated,  in  Hutton 
Park,  under  the  Mountain.  It  was  run  by  his  son, 
Joseph.  Near  to  the  spring  and  mill,  his  father  built 
for  him  a  house.  The  mill  was  abandoned  about  1820, 
and  converted  to  other  uses.  The  millstones  were 
transferred  to  the  Day  Street  mill. 

LEATHER  AND   TANISTERIES. 

In  1697-8,  it  was  agreed  in  Town  Meeting  that  Aza- 
riah  Crane  shall  have  land  "  out  of  the  Common,"  and 
"enjoy  it  so  long  as  he  doth  follow  the  trade  of  tan- 
ning."^ The  "Common"  was  the  "watering  place." 
It  was  at  the  juncture  of  Market  Street  and  Spring- 
field Avenue,  in  front  of  our  present  Court  House. 
The  low  grounds  on  the  east,  through  which  Market 
Street  is  laid,  became,  and  are  now,  to  some  extent, 
the  centre  of  the  leather  manufacture  of  Newark. 


I.  Newark  Town  Records,  p.  iii. 
18 


2  74  History  of  the  Oranges. 

The  first  settlers  by  the  River  gave  encouragement  to 
the  production  of  all  articles  of  prime  necessity.  As 
their  children  spread  over  the  Mountain  region,  the 
example  of  the  fathers  was  not  lost  upon  the  sons. 

Benjamin  Williams  was  fourteen  years  of  age  when 
his  father,  Amos,  died.  He  was  taught  the  cooper's 
trade  by  his  brother,   Nathaniel,   as  directed  by  the 

will  of  their  father.  "V^Hien  he  reached  full  age,  he 
took  possession  of  his  share  of  the  paternal  farm,  and 
there  built  for  himself  a  home.  In  connection  with 
his  brother,  he  dammed  the  Wigwam  Brook,  and  built 
a  saw-mill,  also  a  cider-mill  and  a  distillery,  in  the 
same  neighborhood.  During  the  time  of  the  Rev- 
olution, or  immediately  thereafter,  he  started  a  tan- 
nery, and  with  it  a  shoe-shop,  as  well  as  a  currying- 
shop  where  the  leather  was  prepared. 

The  saw-mill  was  used  in  common,  or  "turn  about," 
by  Benjamin's  sons  and  nephews.  After  his  death,  in 
1826,  his  son,  Joseph,  inherited  the  land  adjoining  and 
including  the  saw-mill ;  and  upon  the  death  of  the 
latter,  which  occurred  soon  afterwards,  his  children 
became  involved  in  a  quarrel  with  the  other  owners, 
and  finally  abandoned  the  mill.  It  then  decayed  for 
want  of  repairs,  and  disappeared  about  1835. 

Samuel  and  Amos  Williams,  the  sons  of  Benjamin, 
were,  in  1826,  the  owners  of  the  tan-yard  by  inherit- 
ance. They  continued  the  business  until  their  deaths 
—Samuel  in  1839,  and  Amos  in  1843.  They  ground 
bark,  and  sent  it  abroad,  as  well  as  to  Newark  and 
other  places  in  this  country.  During  the  War  of  1812, 
when  the  fear  of  British  privateers  drove  American 
trading  vessels  from  the  seas,  they  made  a  very  profit- 


Timber.  275 

able  business  by  sending  black  oak  bark,  packed  in 
hogsheads,  to  England  in  Russian  bottoms.  ^ 

A  tan-yard  was  built  and  owned  by  Zadoc  Baldwin, 
on  what  is  now  the  corner  of  Valley  Road  and  Condlt 
Place.  The  date  of  its  construction  is  uncertain. 
Baldwin  was  born  in  1756.  He  was  for  a  short  time 
in  the  War,  and  received  a  pension  till  his  death.  We 
believe  that  he  carried  on  a  tannery  during  the  last 
years  of  the  century.  He  was  also  a  farmer,  occupy- 
ing the  farm  on  the  southwest  corner  of  the  Mount 
Pleasant  Turnpike  and  Condit  Place.  It  was  after- 
terwards  owned  and  cultivated  by  Joseph  Condit, 
who  was  a  brother  of  Col.  John  Condit.  Joseph  also 
worked  the  tannery  in  connection  with  a  currying- 
shop  and  a  shoe  manufactury,  with  his  sons  Ichabod, 
who  died  in  1840,  and  Stephen,  who  died  in  1835. 
Joseph  Condit  died  in  1836.  The  shoe  manufacture 
was  continued  by  his  grandson,  Joseph  A.  Condit,  till 
1861,  when  he  failed  in  business  by  reason  of  heavy 
losses  at  the  South. 

A  large  tannery  was  operated,  in  1812,  by  Col.  Abra- 
ham Winans,  on  the  low  ground  at  the  intersection  of 
Parrow  Brook  with  the  Main  Street.  The  business  was 
abandoned  as  unprofitable,  and  the  ground  was  allowed 
to  grow  up  in  willows.  Some  of  the  trees  came  to  a 
large  size,  forming  a  pleasing  feature  on  the  street. 
In  1852,  they  gave  the  name  of  Willoto  Rail  to  the 
brick  building,  which  was  in  that  year  erected  on  the 
site  by  Mr.  Albert  Pierson,  and  is  now  standing. 

TIMBEE. 

The  oak,  in  its  varieties,  and  the  chestnut,  were  an 
early  source  of  revenue  to  the  planters  of  the  Orange 
Mountains.     In  the  last  century,  and  until  after  the 


I.   Family  traditions  and  manuscripts. 


276  History  of  the  Oranges. 

War  of  the  Revolution,  the  storehouses  in  the  lower 
part  of  the  City  of  New  York  were  generally  built  of 
wood.  White  oak  timber,  dressed  with  the  broad -axe 
and  framed,  ready  to  be  set  up,  was  largely  furnished 
on  contract  from  these  mountain  forests.  It  was 
transported  by  teams  to  Paulus  Hook,  and  delivered 
in  the  city.  Matthias  Dodd,^  whose  home  was  in 
Grove  Street,  East  Orange,  was  not  only  a  prosperous 
farmer,  but  he  also  derived  generous  profits  from  his 
timber  lands.  Upon  the  delivery  of  the  material  in 
New  York,  he  received  his  pay  in  silver  dollars.  The 
framed  buildings  below  Fulton  Street,  and  east  of 
Broadway,  in  New  York,  were  all  consumed  in  the 
great  fire  of  1835.  The  making  of  white  oak  staves 
for  pipes,  and  of  black  oak  staves  for  hogsheads,  to 
be  sent  to  the  West  Indies,  was  a  large  and  lucrative 
industry  after  the  Peace  of  1783. 

WOOL. 

From  the  first  years  of  the  Newark  settlement,  the 
production  of  wool  had  been  encouraged  and  fostered. 
After  the  Peace,  it  was  voted  at  Town  Meeting,  that 
the  money  raised  by  the  dog-tax  should  "be  appro- 
propriated  to  the  encouragement  of  raising  sheep  and 
wool"'  in  the  Township  ;  the  vote  declaring  that  the 
"increase  of  sheep,  and  the  consequent  production  and 
increase  of  wool,  being  of  the  highest  importance  to  the 
interest  and  prosperity  of  this  County,  and  the  inhab- 
itants of  this  Township  being  disposed  to  encourage 
and  promote  so  laudable  a  design,  etc."  They  further 
agreed  to  give  to  the  person  who  shall  shear,  from  his 


1.  Matthias  Dodd  was  drowned,  July  23,  1801,  aged  48,  at  Coney  Island, 
N.  Y.,  in  company  with  his  daughter,  Rachael,  aged  19,  and  her  cousin 
Stephen  Mun,  son  of  John  Munn. — Dodd  Genealogies,  p.  66. 

2.  Newark  Town  Records,  p.  194. 


Wool.  277 

own  sheep  in  the  spring  of  i789, 1  tiie  greatest  quan- 
tity of  good  clean  wool,  the  sum  of  ten  pounds ;  for 
the  next  greatest,  six  pounds,  down  to  the  sixth 
greatest  quantity,  which  should  receive  two  pounds,* 

The  local  interest  in  the  production  of  wool  at  this 
time  is  illustrated  by  the  organization  in  1788,  of  a 
company  in  this  neighborhood  for  raising  sheep,  and 
the  manufacture  of  wool. 

On  July  23,  1788,  Caleb  Camp  and  Samuel  Hayes 
purchased  of  iMary  Ashtield  two  lots  of  land  on  the 
Mountain,  described  as  Numbers  2  and  15,  and  aggre- 
gating 838yW  acres,  for  £338  proc.  In  August  ensuing 
the  following  persons  met  in  Newark,  at  the  house 
of  Robert  Neil,  innholder,  viz.,  Caleb  Camp,  Samuel 
Hayes,  Abner  Ward,  Daniel  Johnson,  David  Johnson 
and  John  Johnson.  They  agreed  to  purchase  the  Ash- 
held  tract,  but  Mr.  Camp  was  to  take  the  deed  in  his 
own  name,  and  to  give  to  the  other  owners  proper  evi- 
dences of  their  respective  interests. 

The  enterprise  was  regarded  with  so  much  favor, 
that,  in  the  next  year,  two  of  the  joint  owners  were 
appointed  to  inspect  other  lands  adjoining  their  tract, 
and  to  report  at  the  next  meeting  upon  the  expediency 
of  leasing  or  purchasing  the  same.  The  property  in 
question  was  situated  on  the  north  side  of  the  Horse 
Neck  road,  and  belonged  to  Mrs.  Euphemia  Ashlield.  ^ 

1.  It  was  in  this  year  that  LeConteulx  imported  the  first  pair  of  merino 
sheep,  and  presented  them  to  Robert  Morris. — Historical  Magazine,  V.,  p,  92. 

2.  Newark  Town  Records,  p.  166. 

3.  The  Ashfield  tract,  at  Horse  Neck,  belonged  originally  to  Lewis  Morris 
Ashfield,  a  son  of  Richard  Ashfield  and  Isabella,  the  daughter  of  Gov.  Lewis 
Morris.  This  Richard  Ashfield  held  a  whole  propriety  in  East  Jersey,  and 
was  a  member  of  Council  in  Gov.  Morris'  administration.  Lewis  Morris 
Ashfield  became  a  member  of  Gov.  Belcher's  Council.  He  was  charged 
with  being  favorable  towards  the  rioters,  and  with  having  "damned  the 
King's  laws."  After  having  been  tried  and  acquitted,  he  was  restored  to 
Council,  in  1753.  He  died  "'after  a  long  indisposition,"  October,  5,  1769. 
— iVew  fersey  Archives,  VII.  124,  4. 


278  History  of  the  Oranges. 

We  infer  that  the  decision  of  tiie  committee  of  in- 
spectiou  was  favorable,  for  the  reason  that,  in  a  short 
time  thereafter,  six  new  associates  were  added,  and  the 
Euphemia  Ashheld  portion  was  purchased.  The  new 
partners,  viz.,  Col.  Ward,  Caleb  Parkhurst,  Alexander 
Eagles,  Obadiah  Meeker,  Jabez  Pierson  and  Joseph 
Clisby,  were  to  be  placed  on  equal  terms  with  the 
original  owners. 

This  account  of  the  inception,  and  the  earlier  meas- 
ures of  this  wool  company,  is  derived  from  the  Conger 
manuscripts  in  the  New  Jersey  Historical  Library. 
But  they  give  no  information  as  to  its  subsequent 
history. 

BOOTS   AND   SHOES. 

The  beginnings  of  shoe  manufacture  in  the  eight- 
eenth century  have  been  noticed.  The  first  years  of 
the  nineteenth  century  witnessed  its  large  increase, 
and  its  establishment  as  one  of  the  most  profitable  in- 
dustries of  Orange.  In  180U,  in  addition  to  the  tan- 
neries and  shoe  productions  of  the  earlier  years,  there 
were  seven  or  more  manufacturers  from  Centre  Street 
to  Prince  Street.  Jabez  Freeman  did  custom  work 
alone  ;  and  six  others  had  their  market  in  New  York, 
viz.,  Daniel  Porter,  Henry  B.  Campbell,  Amos  Yin- 
cent,  Abraham  Winans,  Shaler  Lindsley  and  Ephraim 
Perry.  John  Dean  carried  on  a  large  and  successful 
business,  on  Main  Street  below  Prospect.  A  large  pro- 
portion of  the  families  in  Orange  Township  derived 
their  chief  support  from  this  source,  and  the  assured 
supply  of  work  had  its  influence  in  an  increase  of  the 
population. 

The  little  shoeshops,  usually  painted  red,  became  a 
feature  in  the  garden  lots  of  numerous  humble  homes 
in  various  streets  of  the  village.     Many  shoe-makers  re- 


Boots  and  Shoes.  279 

ceived  tiieir  stock  from  the  factories,  and  made  it  up  in 
tlieir  own  residences.  Tliose  wlio  built  shops,  employed 
a  few  journeymen  and  apprentices.  When  the  work  was 
finished  it  was  returned  to  the  factory,  and  the  account 
was  settled  with  money  or  store  goods.  There  were 
many  who  conducted  these  little  shops  themselves, 
selling  their  work  to  the  local  store-keepers,  or  taking 
it  in  sacks  to  the  large  dealers  in  New  York,  who  were 
mostly  in  Maiden  Lane.  A  large  amount  of  coarse 
work  was  thus  made  for  the  Southern  negroes.  It  was 
known  as  "stogy  work,"  being  made  of  cow-hide, 
with  heavy  soles.  When  the  store-keeper  at  home 
had  accumulated  enough  of  this  quality  of  stock,  it 
was  carted  to  New  York  and  sold  for  the  best  price 
which  could  be  obtained.  The  shoes  were  thrown  into 
a  wagon,  with  sideboards,  and  heaped  up  live  or  more 
feet  high,  like  a  load  of  hay.  In  the  War  of  1812, 
the  demand  for  army  shoes  made  the  shoe  business 
very  brisk  and  profitable  in  this  neighborhood.  The 
finished  goods  were  packed  in  hogsheads,  and  trans- 
ported by  wagons  direct  to  Philadelphia. 

This  industry,  increasing  in  extent,  and  improving 
in  style  and  quality,  was  carried  on  in  Orange  for 
about  half  a  century.  In  later  years,  the  trade  was, 
to  a  large  extent,  directly  with  the  Southern  States,  and 
was  at  one  time  very  advantageous  to  those  engaged 
in  it.  The  financial  revulsion  of  1857  crippled  the 
manufacturers  seriously ;  and  the  War  of  the  Rebel- 
lion destroyed  their  market,  and  wiped  out  their  assets. 
Many  a  manufacturer  was  hopelessly  ruined  by  these 
losses  at  the  South.  During  the  War,  the  making  of 
army  shoes  for  the  United  States  Government  was  car- 
ried on  largely,  and  with  profit.  The  relief  was  tem- 
porary, however,  and  the  industry,  as  a  feature  in 
Orange  life,  soon  came  to  an  end.     A  few  of  the  smaller 


28o  History  of  the  Oranges. 

manufacturers  still  reinaiu,  but  their  entire  product  is 
trilling  in  comparison  with  the  results  of  many  a  single 
shop,  in  the  ante  bellum  days. 

HATS. 

We  have  before  noticed,  that  the  manufacture  of  felt 
hats  in  the  American  Colonies  had,  in  1731,  excited 
the  fears  of  the  felt-makers  in  London,  lest  the  impor- 
tation of  hats  from  America  should  prejudice  their 
trade ;  and  that,  at  that  time,  there  was  but  one  hat 
manufactory  in  the  whole  Province  of  New  Jersey. 

We  lind  no  precise  data  as  to  when  the  manufacture 
began  in  Orange.  In  or  a  little  before  1800,  it  was  un- 
dertaken in  a  modest  way  by  Cyrus  Jones,  a  native 
of  Orange,  who  died  in  1870,  over  99  years  of  age. 
When  fourteen  years  old,  he  was  apprenticed  to 
Joseph  Banks,  of  Newark,  to  learn  the  trade  of  mak- 
ing hats,  his  term  of  service  being  seven  years.  Mr. 
Banks'  place  of  business  was  in  Broad  Street,  near 
Trinity  Church.  When  he  had  served  his  time,  Jones 
set  up  for  himself  as  a  manufacturer,  in  1790,  on  a  lot 


<^/fH^%. 


bought  of  Benjamin  Munn,  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Main  Street,  at  the  East  Orange  junction.  Here  he 
carried  on  the  business  for  a  number  of  years.  At  a 
later  time,  he  removed  to  his  paternal  acres,  and  occu- 
pied the  house  of  his  father,  opposite  the  Munn  Ave- 
nue Presbyterian  Church,  where  he  resided  during  all 
the  remaining  years  of  his  prolonged  life.  His  market 
was  New  York,  to  which  city  he  carried  his  manufac- 
tured stock  on  his  back,  crossing  the  Passaic  and 
Hackensack  on  flat-boats,  and  returning  in  the  same 


Hats.  281 

way,  bearing  his  sack  filled  with  pelts.  From  these 
he  scraped  the  fur  with  his  own  hands.  His  purchases 
of  pelts  were  made  from  John  Jacob  Astor,  of  whom 
Mr.  Jones  always  said  :  "He  was  a  very  fair  man  to 
deal  with."  Mr.  Astor  advised  him  what  kind  of 
purchases  to  make,  and  the  stock  so  obtained  generally 
brought  a  good  prolit. 

Mr.  Jones  had  several  apprentices,  of  whom  were 
his  son  Viner  Van  Zant  Jones,  Israel  Hedden,  Samuel 
W.  Tichenor  and  Lewis  Williams,  a  nephew.  All  of 
them  afterwards  became  managers  of  their  own  shops 
and  won  success.  ^ 

The  modest  business  ventures  of  Cyrus  Jones,  and 
of  those  whom  he  had  trained  to  follow  the  art,  re- 
suited,  during  the  first  decade  of  the  century,  in  a 
great  increase  in  the  hat  manufacture.  There  was,  at 
first,  a  large  group  of  hatters  on  the  lots  sold  by  the 
parish  on  both  sides  of  the  Common,  and  its  vicinity. 
William  Pierson,  a  son  of  Dr.  Matthias,  had  his  shops 
in  the  rear  and  to  the  southeast  of  the  Central  Presby- 
terian Church.  Allen  Dodd  occupied  the  two  lots 
which  he  bought  of  the  parish,  on  the  north  side  of 
the  Common.  Samuel  Ward  Tichenor  was  on  the 
same  side,  and  east  of  Allen  Dodd.  Lewis  Williams 
was  in  the  rear  of  the  Park  House.  Job  Williams  had 
extensive  shops  on  the  present  site  of  the  Baptist 
Church.  Parrow  Brook,  on  the  south  side  of  the 
bridge,  where  it  crosses  the  Main  Street,  was  then 
open,  and  on  its  east  side  was  a  large  flat  rock.  To 
this  rock  all  the  hatters  of  the  vicinity  repaired,  to 
wash  the  stock  which  had  gone  through  their  dye- 
tubs.  As  the  years  advanced,  the  business  increased, 
till  all  the  running  streams  of  the  Orange  region  were 
discolored  with  hat-dyes. 


I.   K.  G.  Williams'  Newspaper  Sketch. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


DISEASE   AND   PESTILENCE. 


IN  the  tirst  years  of  the  settlements  in  America, 
fevers  and  intermittent  agues  afflicted  the  inhabi- 
tants. Gov.  Carteret  writes  to  the  Proprietors  in  Eng- 
land, in  1682,  that  the  town  of  Newark  had  the  rep- 
utation abroad  of  being  a  very  unhealthy  place,  on 
account  of  these  forms  of  disease.  The  low  grounds, 
around  which  the  settlers  located,  denuded  of  their 
dense  undergrowth,  together  with  the  up-turning  of 
the  virgin  soil  in  the  processes  of  cultivation,  were 
sufficient  causes  of  miasm. 

A  more  distressful  and  a  destructive  pestilential 
scourge,  which  was  equally  common  to  Europe  and 
America,  was  the  small  pox.  It  wasted  the  Indian 
tribes  just  before  our  fathers  landed  at  Plymouth. 
On  their  arrival,  they  found  the  bones  of  those  who 
had  perished,  in  many  places  unburied.  ^ 

How  it  was  dreaded,  a  century  afterwards,  in  other 
parts  as  well  as  in  New  Jersey  and  New  York,  not 
only  as  a  personal  scourge,  but  as  a  disturbing  element 


I.  Cotton  Mather,  when  writing  of  the  arrival  of  the  Pilgrims,  in  1620, 
says:  "The  Indians  in  these  parts  (Cape  Cod  and  vicinity,)  had  newly, 
even  about  a  year  or  twd  before,  been  visited  with  such  a  prodigious  pesti- 
lence as  carried  away,  not  a  Tenth,  but  Nine  Parts  out  of  ten  ;  (yea,  'tis 
said  Nineteen  out  of  twenty,)  among  them.  So  that  the  woods  were  almost 
cleared  of  those  pernicious  creatures,  to  make  room  for  a  better  growth." — 
Magnolia,  I.,  p.  7. 


Disease  and  Pestilence,  283 

in  the  progress  of  affairs,  may  be  inferred  from  some 
notices  of  the  time. 

The  New  York  Gazette,  of  January  18,  1732,  says : 
"The  Small  Fox  spreads  very  much  in  the  province, 
and  in  New  Jersey  at  Amboy,  New  Brunswick  and 
there  away."  The  Burlington  session  of  the  seventh 
Assembly  of  New  Jersey,  in  1716,  was  held  in  a 
neighboring  town,  on  account  of  the  small  pox  being- 
prevalent  at  Burlington. 

New  York,  deriving  its  trade  from  the  country,  and 
therefore  careful  to  maintain  its  reputation  for  salu- 
brity, issued  a  circular,  October  14,  1745,  through  its 
medical  men  as  follows  : 

(3jj.y  Qf        I  "  We,  whose  names  are  hereunto  subscribed 

New  York,  j  '  Practitioners  in  Physick.  in  the  said  city  ot  New 
York,  Do  hereby  certitie  and  make  known  to  all  to  whom  these 
presents  may  come  and  may  concern,  that  the  Fever,  that  this 
city  was  lately  visited  with,  is  very  greatly  abated  and  that  there 
are  but  few  persons  at  present  sick  in  the  city  :  And  we  do  further 
certifie  that  we  do  not  know  of  any  person,  or  persons,  whatso- 
ever in  this  city  that  has  the  Distemper  called  the  Small  Pox. 

In  witness  whereof  We  have  hereunto  subscribed  our  names 
this  loth  day  of  October,  1745."!  (Here  follow  the  names  of  thir- 
teen physicians.) 

The  following  advertisement  appeared  in  a  news- 
paper, on  October  30,  1738 : 

"This  is  xo  give  Notice 
That  Joseph  Sacket  of  the  city  of  New  York  hath  hired  a  Room 
at  some  distance  from  where  he  now  lives,  and  has  inoculated 
those  of  his  family  there  which  had  not  the  small  pox  before,  with 
a  design  to  keep  his  house  and  goods  clear  from  the  infection  of 
that  Distemper  :  and  any  Person  or  Persons  that  wants  Goods  may 
have  them  without  infection  from  Joseph  Sacket."3 


1.  lb.,  p.  742. 

2.  See  Valentine's  Manual  of  the  City  of  New  York  for  1865,  p.  788. 


284  History  of  the  Oranges. 

Inoculation  for  small  pox  was  introduced  into  Bos- 
ton by  Rev,  Cotton  Mather.  He  bad  met  with  an  ac- 
count in  the  Philosophical  Transactions,  printed  in  Lon- 
don, of  the  success  of  the  process  in  Turkey.  He  called 
the  attention  of  the  physicians  of  Boston  to  the  meas- 
ure, but  the  suggestion  was  treated  with  contempt- 
uous indifference.  Through  his  personal  efforts  and 
the  agency  of  his  friend,  Dr.  Zabdiel  Boylston,  whose 
favorable  interest  in  the  method  he  had  enlisted,  a 
series  of  experiments  were  made.  Dr.  Boylston,  in 
January,  1721,  first  inoculated  his  only  son,  thirteen 
years  of  age,  and  two  negro  servants.  The  successful 
issue  of  these  cases  confirmed  his  purpose.  During 
that  year,  two  hundred  and  eighty-six  persons  were 
treated.  Six  only  of  these  died.  During  the  same 
Ijeriod,  6,759  took  the  natural  disease,  with  a  fatality 
of  844.  The  opposition  to  the  practice  of  inoculation 
was  intense.  The  physicians,  the  newspapers,  and  the 
people  were  bitterly  hostile.  The  clergy  alone  sup- 
ported the  new  measure,  and  the  popular  feeling 
against  them  was  such  that  they  were  exposed  to 
injury,  and  some  suffered  in  their  persons  and  prop- 
erty. They  were  not  safe  in  their  own  houses.  One 
clergyman,  at  least,  took  the  popular  side.  It  is  re- 
lated of  him  that  he  preached  from  the  text :  ' '  So, 
Satan  went  forth  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and 
smote  Job  with  sore  boils,  from  the  sole  of  his  foot  to 
the  crown  of  his  head."  From  this  he  drew  the  lesson 
that  Job  had  the  small  pox,  and  that  Satan  was  the 
first  inoculator.  Cotton  Mather  wrote  and  preached 
in  favor  of  the  practice.  Among  the  physicians  of 
Boston,  Dr.  Boylston  alone  supported  it.  It  conquered 
opposition  in  the  end,  and  vindicated  its  claims  as  a 
valuable  protective  agent.  As  such  it  was  accepted, 
and  came  into  general  use,  being  employed  till  1796, 


Disease  and  Pestilence.  285 

when  Jenner  published  his  discovery  of  vaccination. 
Public  hospitals  were  opened  in  Boston  in  1764,  and 
later  in  other  cities,  for  inoculating  all  who  desired  to 
undergo  the  operation.  ^ 

It  was  the  custom  in  New  Jersey  and  the  other 
Provinces,  to  appoint  houses  in  secluded  places  as  tem- 
porary pest-houses,  in  which  those  who  were  to  be  oper- 
ated upon  should  be  lodged  and  carried  through  the 
disease.  That  this  was  the  method  at  the  Newark 
Mountains,  appears  from  a  note  in  the  diary  of  Jemima 
Cundict.  We  give  it  in  her  own  words  :  "February 
5,  1775,  Was  my  Cousins  Knockalated,  &  I  am  apt  to 
think  they  will  repent  there  undertaking  before  they 
Done  with  it,  for  I  am  Shure  tis  a  great  venter.  But, 
Sence  they  are  gone,  I  wish  them  Sucses."  Her  good 
wishes  were  realized,  as  a  subsequent  note  says : 
"They  have  Had  good  Luck  So  far,  for  they  have 
all  got  home  Alive." 

A  fearful  pestilence  appeared  in  New  Jersey  in  1735. 
First,  it  visited  New  Hampshire  in  the  month  of  May, 
during  a  cold,  wet  season,  at  Kingston,  an  inland 
town.  It  was  chiefly  confined  to  children,  and  was 
terribly  fatal.  From  the  description  of  its  symptoms, 
by  observers  at  the  time,  it  cannot  be  questioned  that 
it  was  identical  with  the  diphtheria  of  our  own  day. 
Its  first  victim  was  a  child,  who  died  in  three  days. 
Soon  after,  three  children  in  one  family,  four  miles 
distant,  were  seized,  and  died  in  three  days.  It  soon 
became  epidemic.  Of  the  first  forty  cases  none  recov- 
ered. It  extended  its  ravages  through  that  year  and 
the  next,  gradually  spreading  southward,  almost  strip- 
ping the  country  of  children.     The  disease  was  infec- 


I.  See  History  of  Medicine  and   Medical   Men  in  New  Jersey,  by  the 
author  of  this  volume,  p.  29. 


286  History  of  the  Oranges. 

tious,  but  its  spread  was  independent  of  contagion. 
Those  in  the  more  sequestered  places,  and  without  the 
possibility  of  exposure  by  contact,  were  victims  of  its 
deadly  power.  Its  fatality  was  not  uniform.  Country 
hamlets  suffered  more  than  larger  towns.  There  was 
not  at  that  date,  Boston  alone  excepted,  a  town  or  city 
in  America  which  had  a  population  of  seven  thousand. 

The  pestilence  extended  its  ravages  through  Con- 
necticut, and  reached  New  York  and  the  surrounding 
country.  At  Crosswicks,  in  the  Province  of  New 
Jersey,  it  was  very  fatal. 

The  sad,  silent  records,  in  the  old  parish  graveyard 
at  Orange,  tell  of  the  bereaved  and  stricken  hearts  of 
a  century  and  a  half  ago. 

On  one  stone  we  find  : 

"  Mary  Deed  April  y^  7,  aged  9  years, 
Sarah  Deed  April  ye  9,  aged  1 1  years. 
John  Deed  April  ye  13,  aged  6  years. 
1735  Ye  children  of  Swain  and  Mary  Ogden." 

Samuel  Wheeler,  in  March,  1735,  preserves  the  mem- 
ory of  three  children,  aged  one,  two  and  ten  years, 
respectively. 

Sylvanus  Hedden  loses  two  children  during  the  same 
year ;  one  on  July  25th,  aged  9  years  ;  and  another 
on  August  7th,  aged  2  years. 

Benjamin  Perry,  on  March  16th,  of  the  same  year, 
loses  one  child,  aged  9  years. 

Abraham  Harrison,  on  June  1st  following,  loses  a 
child,  aged  5  years. 

Rev.  Jonathan  Dickinson,  who  practiced  the  healing 
art  and  acquired  distinction  therein,  visited  the  sick 
in  the  country  surrounding  Elizabethtown,  where  he 
was  pastor.     He  wrote  a  paper  on  the  disease,  which 


Disease  and  Pestilence.  287 

is  one  of  the  earliest  contributions  on  medicine  in 
America.     He  says : 

"This  distemper  first  began  in  these  parts  in  February,  1734-5. 
The  long  continuance  and  universal  spread  of  it  among  us  has 
given  me  abundant  opportunity  to  be  acquainted  with  it  in  all  its 
forms.  The  first  assault  was  in  a  family  about  ten  miles  from  me, 
which  proved  fatal  to  eight  children.  Being  called  to  visit  the 
distressed  family,  I  found  upon  my  arrival  one  of  the  children 
newly  dead,  which  gave  me  the  advantage  of  a  dissection,  and 
thereby  a  better  acquaintance  with  the  nature  of  the  disease  than 
I  otherwise  could  have  had."i 

There  was  no  physician  in  the  Newark  Mountains  at 
this  period.  We  have  little  doubt  that  Mr.  Dickin- 
son rendered  medical  service  here.  The  intercommu- 
nication between  the  towns  which  were  contiguous, 
was  easy  and  frequent.  2 

Dysentery  in  the  last  century  was  not  an  infrequent 
scourge,  and  at  times  was  very  prevalent  and  fatal. 
It  was  not  confined  to  the  younger  class,  as  was  the 
case  in  a  great  degree  with  the  throat  distemper,  but 
invaded  those  of  every  age.  From  1773  to  1777,  the 
pestilence  was  terribly  fatal  over  all  the  Colonies. 
In   1776,    at   Ticonderoga,    on   Lake    Champlain,    of 

1.  His  paper,  which  is  an  extremely  rare  one,  exhibits  great  intelligence 
in  his  observations  upon  the  progress  of  the  malady  in  its  varied  phases. 
We  know  of  no  writing  prior  to  this  in  America,  in  which  its  author  has 
drawn  his  observations  of  disease  from  examinations  post  mortem.  Dissec- 
tion was  not  a  part  of  medical  teaching  till  1750.     Its  title  is  as  follows  : 

"Observations  |  on  that  terrible  Disease  |  vulgarly  called  |  The  Throat 
Distemper  |  with  |  advices  as  to  the  |  Method  of  Cure  |  In  a  letter  to  a 
Friend  |  By  J.  Dickinson,  A.M. 

"  Boston.  Printed  and  Sold  by  S.  Kneeland  and  T.  Green,  in  Queen 
street,  over  against  the  Prison.     I749-" 

2.  He  married  (2)  Mary,  widow  of  Elihu  Crane,  living  at  the  Moun- 
tain. She  died  August  30,  1762,  aged  67.  Her  remains  were  laid  in  the 
burial  ground  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Newark.  Hatfield  s  History 
of  Elizabethtown,  p.  354. 


288  History  of  the  Oranges. 

13,000  American  troops,  it  is  said  that  one-half  were 
nnfit  for  duty.  That  it  did  not  originate  in  the  army 
would  appear  from  the  fact,  that,  in  1773,  two  years 
before  the  war,  it  was  more  pervading  and  more  ma- 
lignant than  in  any  year  thereafter.  Cumberland 
Connty,  N.  J.,  was  grevionsly  afflicted  by  it.  Elmer, 
in  his  History  of  that  County,  quotes  from  the  jour- 
nal of  a  visitor  to  Virginia,  who  says  under  the  date 
of  July  4,  1774:  "With  us  in  Jersey,  wet  weather, 
about  this  time,  *  *  *  almost  never  fails  being  a 
forerunner  of  agues,  fall  fever,  fluxes  and  horse  dis- 
tempers." Under  the  date  of  August  9,  1775,  when  in 
Western  Maryland,  he  makes  the  following  record : 
"News  from  below  that  many  disorders,  chiefly  the 
flux,  (dysentery)  are  now  raging  in  the  lower  counties. 
I  pray  God,  Delaware  may  be  a  bar,  and  stop  that 
painful  and  deadly  disorder.  Enough  has  it  ravaged 
our  poor  Cohansians ;  enough  are  we  in  Cohansey, 
every  autumn,  enfeebled  and  wasted  with  fever  and 
ague."  Jemima  Cundict,  in  her  private  journal,  makes 
the  following  entry:  "  July  23^- 1776,  Did  that  Dis- 
tressing Disorder  the  Blody  flux  Begin  to  rage  in  this 
neighborhood.  Rubin  Harrison  lost  his  Son,  Adoni- 
jah,  the  29,  he  was  the  2"^  he  had  lost  of  that  Name." 
From  this  date  to  October  21,  she  records  thirty-seven 
deaths,  some  times  two  in  a  family.^  She  had  good 
reason  for  writing  :  "What  a  time  is  this  ;  A  Sickly 
time,  &  a  very  Dieing  time." 

When  we  consider  that,  in  the  early  times  of  which 
we  have  spoken,  when  the  dysentery  and  the  throat 
distemper  were  pestilential,  the  country  was  sparsely 
settled,  the  intercommunication  everywhere  imperfect, 


I.  In  i8i6,  after  a  summer  so  dry  that  no  crops  were  harvested,  and  the 
salt  meadows  were  sunburnt  and  dusty,  the  dysentery  was  so  mortal  in 
Orange  that,  as  an  old  resident  says,  "  it  filled  the  graveyard." 


Physicians  at  Newark  Mountains.       289 

the  free  air  untainted  by  the  unhealthy  influences 
incident  to  crowded  centres  from  various  forms  of 
deadly  miasm,  we  are  driven  to  look  for  causes  other 
than  these.  Terrestrial  and  cosmic  conditions  gener- 
ating pestilence  are  among  the  secrets  of  nature  yet  to 
be  discovered. 

THE   FIKST   PHYSICIANS   AT  NEWARK   MOUNTAINS. 

At  the  period  of  which  we  are  writing,  the  medical 
aid  required  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  Mountain  set- 
tlement was  sought  for  in  Newark  and  in  Elizabeth- 
town.  Doctors  John  Deancey,  William  Turner  and  — 
Pigot,  in  the  former  place,  with  Ichabod  Burnet  and 
Mr.  Dickinson  in  the  latter,  were  their  chief  medical 
advisers.  Samuel  Harrison's  account-book  refers  to 
Dr.  Deancey  thus : 

"  March  13,  1744.  Then  I  paid  Doctor  John  Deancy  the  sum  of 
five  pounds  thirteen  shillings  and  five  pence  in  a  ful  Balance  of  all 
a  compts  from  the  Beginning  of  the  world  to  this  day.     ;^5.  13.  5." 

From  the  emphatic  manner  in  which  he  discharged 
the  account,  we  infer  that  he  afterwards  sought  the 
services  of  Dr.  Turner,  whom  he  credits  with  a  bill  of 
attendance,  and  in  1752,  "by  a  visit  to  (his)  wife's 
arm."  The  first  is  paid  by  charge  of  cash,  £20,  15,  0. 
He  subsequently  charges  the  Doctor  for  produce,  work 
done,  and  for  pasturing  and  doctoring  his  horse. 

Dr.  William  Turner  was  a  vestryman  of  Trinity 
Church,  and  a  man  of  some  prominence  in  Newark. 
He  died  in  1754,  aged  42.  Dr.  Pigot  lived  on  the  north 
line  of  Newark,  near  the  Second  River. 

Ichabod  Burnet  was  a  graduate  of  the  University  of 
Edinburgh,  and,  probably,  thence  received  his  med- 
ical degree.  He  settled  first  at  Lyons  Farms,  and  af- 
terwards at  Elizabethtown,  where  he  became  one  of  its 
distinguished  men.  He  was  born  at  South  Hampton, 
19 


290 


History  of  the  Oranges. 


L.  I.,  in  1684,  came  to  New  Jersey  about  1700,  and 
was  an  associate  of  Elizabetlitown  in  1729.  He  died 
there  July  13,  1774,  aged  90  years. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  a  bill,  preserved  among 
the  manuscripts  in  the  library  of  the  New  Jersey  His  - 
torical  Society : 

Amos  Williams,  1  Dttr  March  29,  1742. 

s 

To  one  visit  to  See  his  Son  Dttr  .  .  .  £00.    7.  00 

April  2  to  one  visit  to  See  his  Son  .  .  .  ;^oo.    7.  00 

To  five  ounces  of  Ungdr  Dealthea  .  .  .  ;i^oo.  10.  00 

To  Twealve  Dos  Pill  Mathea  Dttr  .  .  .  £po.  05.  00 

April  ye  7  to  one  Visit  To  his  Son  .  .  .  ;{]oo.  01.  00 

To  Eighteen  Dosee  of  Ant.  Diap  .  .  .  ^00.  08  00 

April  ye  11  To  one  visit  To  Joseph  Riggs  .  £00.  06,  00 

Contra  Credit  by  Medson  brought  back    .        .        £00.  06.  00 
On  the  back  of  the  same  bill  we  read  : 

"  New  Jersey  Septye  19  day  ano.  Don.  1743 
"  Then  received  of  Mr  Samuel  Allen  the  sum  of  one  pound 
fifteen   shillings  on   the  Account  of  Mr.  Amos  Williams,   I  say 
Received  in  full  of  accts  from  from  me  to  this  day 

ICHABOD  Burnet." 


DR.    MATTHIAS   PIEESON, 

The  first  resident  physician  at  the  Newark  Moun- 
tains was  a  native  of  its  soil,  and  Matthias  Pierson  by 
name.     His  great-grandfather  was  Thomas,  supposed 


JUK<  dl 


to  be  a  brother  of  Rev.  Abraham  Pierson,  who  came 
to  Newark  in  1666.     Thomas  had  a  son,  Samuel,  who 


I.  Amos  Williams  was  the  eldest  son  of  Matthew,  the  first  settler  at  the 
Mountain.  His  brothers  were  Matthew,  (2d,)  Gershom,  Thomas.  He  was 
the  father  of  Benjamin,  Enos,  Sarah  (Dod),  Samuel,  Nathaniel,  James. 

Amos  died  1754,  aged  63. 


Dr.  Matthias  Pier  son.  291 

removed  to  the  Mountain.  The  latter  had  Samuel,  (2d) 
who  was  born  here,  and  who  lived  on  the  western  de- 
scent of  the  First  Mountain,  on  Northfield  Avenue. 
He  had  seven  children,  of  whom  Matthias  was  the 
third  son,  born  June  20,  1734.  ^  We  infer  that,  in  his 
youth,  his  education  was  limited  by  the  instruction 
received  at  the  little  school  house  in  the  Second  Val- 
ley, at  the  base  of  the  Second  Mountain.  At  the  age 
of  twenty-five  years,  inspired  with  an  aml^ition  to 
study,  and  to  fit  himself  for  a  position  in  life  of  a 
broader  scope  than  that  of  tilling  the  Mountain  acres, 
he  entered,  in  1759,  as  a  pupil,  the  grammar  scliool  of 
Rev.  Caleb  Smith,  to  be  fitted  there  for  college.  He 
remained  in  this  school  for  two  years,  and,  in  1761, 
entered  Princeton  College,  but  is  not  named  in  its  cat- 
alogue as  having  taken  a  full  course,  and  graduated 
with  its  honors.  Among  those  of  that  class  were  the 
second  Jonathan  Edwards,  John  Bacon,  Samuel  Finlay, 
David  Ramsay,  Jacob  Rush,  and  twenty-six  others, 
many  of  whom  became  distinguished.  He,  probably, 
remained  there  a  year,  when  he  studied  medicine  and 
commenced  its  practice  in  1764.  At  that  time,  the 
writings  of  Sydenham,  Boerhaave  and  Van  Sweiten 
were  the  text-books  in  medicine.  Latin  was  the  lan- 
guage of  science,  and  a  knowledge  of  it  was  necessary 
to  properly  furnish  an  aspirant  to  honors  and  success 
in  the  art  of  healing.  There  is  neither  record  nor  tra- 
dition, indicating  who  became  the  medical  instructor 
of  our  Mountain  student.  There  were  no  schools  of 
instruction  in  medicine  at  that  day.  An  apprentice- 
ship to  some  old  practitioner,  to  compound  his  mix- 
tures, make  his  pills,  stir  his  unguents,  break  down 
into  powder  the  dry  roots  and  drugs  of  the  shop,  and, 


I.  Pierson  Genealogies,  by  Lizzie  B.  Pierson  ;  Albany,  Joel  Munsell,  1875. 


292  History  of  the  Oranges. 

perhaps,  groom  the  horse  and  other  menial  service, 
was  a  necessary  part  of  the  discipline  to  be  under- 
gone ;  while  the  student,  by  his  reading  and  the  obser- 
vations of  disease  afforded  by  his  preceptor,  sought  to 
store  his  mind  with  medical  lore. 

Dr.  Ichabod  Burnet,  of  Elizabethtown,  was,  in  1762, 
the  best  educated  physician  in  this  region.  He  was 
well  known  at  the  Mountain.  Matthias  Pierson  was 
twenty-eight  years  old  when  he  began  medical  study, 
mature  enough,  certainly,  to  make  a  judicious  selec- 
tion of  an  instructor. 

As  he  married  in  Elizabethtown,  in  1764,  Phebe, 
daughter  of  Isaac  Nutman,  and  in  the  same  year  com- 
menced his  professional  career,  we  are  disposed  to 
infer  that  his  choice  of  a  medical  teacher,  and  con- 
sequent residence  in  that  place,  became  the  occasion 
of  his  choice  of  her  who  should  share  with  him  the 
joys  and  sorrows  of  a  long  and  useful  life,  and  whose 
' '  earnest  piety  and  ability ' '  became  to  her  numerous 
posterity  a  cherished  memorial. 

There  were  at  that  time  no  medical  laws  requiring 
licensure,  or  governing  practice.  Any  one  who  had 
confidence  in  himself,  or  presumption,  it  may  be,  could 
ask  for  the  confidence  of  others.  Dr.  Pierson  was  too 
well  known  not  to  be  successful.  His  circuit  of  med- 
ical service  embraced  the  whole  of  the  out-lying  town- 
ship of  Newark,  and  extended  into  Morris  County. 
His  mode  of  travel  was  on  horseback.  •  We  do  not 
know  that  he  did  not  own,  and  sometimes  use,  a  chair, 
as  did  his  pastor  Mr.  Smith  ;  for  it  appears  by  a  credit 
in  the  accounts  of  the  latter  with  Jeremiah  Baldwin, 
January,  1758,  that  he  had  a  vehicle  which  required 
"mending  from  time  to  time."  It  was  a  contrivance 
on  two  wheels,  with  a  chair  on  a  platform  over  the 
axletree,  and  adapted  to  rough,  imperfect  highways 


Dr.  Matthias  Pier  son.  293 

and  paths,   though   affording  a  very  uncomfortable 
method  of  locomotion  to  its  rider. 

Instruction  in  the  practice  of  obstetrics,  now  deemed 
so  important  and  of  such  scientific  value,  was  first 
commenced  in  Edinburgh,  in  1726.  In  this  country 
a  chair  of  midwifery  was  not  established  in  our 
schools  till  the  present  century,  and,  for  three-quar- 
ters of  the  last  century,  students  obtained  their  very 
imperfect  knowledge  by  reading  the  writings  of  Eng- 
lish authors  upon  the  subject.  To  the  middle  of  the 
last  century,  in  Europe,  midwifery  was  hardly  re- 
garded as  belonging  to  the  regular  duties  of  the  med- 
ical practitioner.  Dr.  Smellie,  who  afterwards  con- 
tributed so  much  to  improve  and  perfect  it,  at  the  com- 
mencement of  his  career  "united  the  occupation  of 
cloth  merchant  and  practitioner  of  midwifery  at  Lan- 
ark." The  practice  of  this  branch  of  medical  service, 
when  Dr.  Pierson  entered  upon  his  profession,  was  in 
the  hands  of  the  more  experienced  matrons  of  the 
neighborhood.  The  records  of  one  midwife  at  the 
Mountain,  which  have  been  discovered  within  the  last 
twenty  years,  and  which  this  writer  has  examined, 
show  an  obstetric  practice  quite  remarkable.  These 
records  are  on  sheets  of  foolscap  paper,  and  give  her 
charges  from  1773  to  1776.  They  seem  to  be  a  frag- 
ment of  a  more  extended  record.  The  entries  are 
made  thus : 

"A  child  born  to  John  Jones,  Aug.  8." 
"  A  child  born  to  John  Doe,  Aug.  20." 
They  follow  each  other  with  no  details  of  sex,  res- 
idence of  parent,  or  charge  for  service.  From  August, 
1773,  to  August,  1774,  are  forty-two  cases  ;  from  Au- 
gust, 1774,  to  August,  1775,  are  thirty-one  cases  ;  from 
August,  1775,  to  1776,  when  the  records  cease,  there 
are  forty  cases.     Seven  additional  cases  are  recorded, 


294  History  of  the  Oranges. 

making  a  total  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-four. 
In  some  months  she  had  four  and  occasionally  five 
cases.  She  lived  in  Orange,  on  the  Valley  Road, 
corner  of  Lakeside  Avenue.  She  was  called,  as  the 
names  of  her  patrons  indicate,  to  Bloomfield,  Cald- 
well, South  Orange,  and  other  parts  of  the  townshij). 

A  tradition  in  the  family,  quite  authentic,  repre- 
sents that  in  the  prosecution  of  her  professional  ser- 
vices, she  contracted  a  disease,  the  constitutional 
effects  of  which  appeared  in  her  being  ' '  covered  with 
bad  sores." 

Her  name  was  Martha  Harrison,  and  she  was,  proba- 
bly, a  daughter  of  Samuel  Dod.  ^  She  married  Matthew 
Harrison,  who  died  March  3,  1767,  aged  40.  By  this 
union  she  had  Abijah,  (among  whose  papers  her  rec- 

ords  were  found, )  Aaron,  Amos  (Deacon),  Adonijah  and 
Rev.  Matthew.  She  married  (2d)  Daniel  Dod.  There 
was  no  issue  from  this  union.  Her  death  occurred 
October  6,  1792,  aged  60. 

That  Dr.  Pierson  identified  himself  with  public 
affairs,  throughout  his  life  of  threescore  and  fifteen 
years,  appears  in  the  progress  of  our  history.  He 
died  May  9,  1809.  His  wife  survived  him  seventeen 
years,  departing  this  life  in  1826.  Their  remains  were 
laid  in  the  parish  burial  place.  After  the  opening  of 
Rosedale  Cemetery,  they  were  removed  to  a  family 
vault  in  the  same,  built  by  his  grandson,  Dr.  William 
Pierson,  Senior,  one  of  the  corporators  of  the  cemetery. 


I.  Dodd  Genealogies,  p.  185. 


Dr.  John  Condi t.  295 

DE.    JOHli   CONDIT 

Was  born  on  the  western  line  of  the  First  Orange 
Mountain,  in  the  year  1755,  being  the  eldest  son  of 
Samuel  (2)  and  Mary  Smith.  We  have  no  record  of 
his  preliminary  or  professional  education.  He  began 
to  practice  medicine  at  an  early  age,  as  at  twenty-one 
he  was  commissioned  "Surgeon,  Essex:  Surgeon,  Col. 
Van  Cortland' s  battalion,  Heardy  brigade,  June  29th, 
1776."  *  He  was  present  at  the  battle  of  Long  Island  ; 
soon  after  which  he  resigned  his  commission,  and  re- 
turned to  his  home  to  practice  his  profession. 

As  a  physician,  he  achieved  great  success,  his  prac- 
tice embracing  a  very  wide  circuit  of  the  surrounding 
country.  It  is  traditional  of  him  that  "  he  kept  many 
horses  and  was  perpetually  on  the  road."     He  usually 


went  on  horseback,  and  was  careful  in  the  selection  of 
horses  that  were  fleet.  It  is  also  related  of  him,  that, 
during  the  War,  he  owned  one  of  remarkable  speed 
and  beauty.  He  had  declined  all  offers  for  its  purchase, 
and  a  band  of  refugees  lay  in  wait  for  him  in  Centre 
Street,  over  which  he  had  passed  to  visit  a  patient, 
intending  to  shoot  him  on  his  return,  and  thus  possess 
themselves  of  the  coveted  steed.  Providentially,  he 
returned  by  the  Scotland  Road,  and  thus  their  designs 
were  thwarted. 

Dr.  Condit  was  a  man  of  decided  mark  in  the  com- 
munity, and  gave  his  time  and  his  influence  to  promote 


I.    Stryker's  Official  Register  of  the  Officers  and  Men  of  New  Jersey  in 
the  Revolutionary  War,  p.  376. 


296  History  of  the  Oranges. 

its  welfare.  He  was,  in  1785,  one  of  the  founders,  as 
well  as  a  trustee,  of  the  Orange  Academy,  which,  by 
his  exertions,  and  by  those  of  his  associates,  became 
an  institution  of  high  standing  in  East  Jersey.  He 
served,  both  in  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  and  in  the 
U.  S.  Congress,  as  a  representative  of  his  district,  for 
a  period  of  thirty  years ;  in  the  House  from  1799  to 
1803,  and  in  the  Senate  from  1803  to  1817 ;  in  the  House 
again  in  1819-20.  This  long  public  service  interfered 
with  the  practice  of  his  profession,  and  led  him  to 
accept  the  post  of  assistant  collector  of  the  port  of 
New  York,  with  his  office  in  Jersey  City. 

For  many  years  before  his  death  he  was  laid  aside 
from  active  work  by  paralysis.  This  affliction,  aggra- 
vated by  the  insanity  of  a  son,  directed  his  mind, 
which  had  been  somewhat  sceptical,  to  the  contempla- 
tion of  Scripture  truth.  He  cordially  accepted  the 
teachings  of  its  divine  Master,  and  some  years  before 
his  death  enjoyed  a  Christian's  hope,  and  he  died  in  a 
Christian's  peace. 

He  built  and  occupied  the  mansion  on  the  Valley 
Road,  now  standing  in  the  triangle  of  land  formed  by 
said  road  on  the  east,  and  by  Fairmount  Avenue  and 
Condit  Street,  now  the  property  of  John  A.  Harden- 
burg.  It  has  undergone  no  essential  alteration  since 
it  was  first  built.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  century  he 
gave  to  his  son,  Joseph,  some  acres,  now  a  part  of  the 
Hutton  Park,  where  he  built  a  house  as  well  as  a  grist- 
mill, on  the  mountain  stream  which  runs  through  it. 
The  remains  of  the  dam  were  to  be  seen  till  within  a 
few  years.  The  mill  was  abandoned  and  converted 
into  a  house,  about  1821.  The  millstones  were  trans- 
ferred to  the  Day  Street  grist-mill.  He  also  built  a 
paper-mill  on  Wigwam  Brook,  a  little  north  of  Lake- 


Dr.  John  Condit.  297 

side  Avenue.  It  was  run  for  a  time,  but  was  aban- 
doned because  of  an  insulficient  water  supply. 

During  most  of  the  years  of  his  active  life  he  was 
known  as  Colonel  Condit,  which  has  given  rise  to  the 
tradition  that  he  was  commissioned  such  in  the  Revo- 
lutionary War.  He  was  made  Colonel  of  State  Mili- 
tia early  in  the  present  century. 

As  a  man  of  generous  impulses,  an  amiable  and 
loving  friend,  of  prompt  and  successful  measures  in 
the  emergencies  of  professional  practice,  his  memory 
is  still  fragrant  with  the  few  who  now  survive  him. 

The  grandfather  of  Col.  Condit  was  Samuel  Condit, 
who  was  born  in  the  original  home  of  the  family,  near 
the  River,  on  December  6,  1696.  When  he  was  about 
twenty-live  years  old,  he  purchased,  from  the  Indian 
proprietors,  a  large  and  fertile  tract  of  land,  between 
the  mountains.  The  locality  is  still  known  as  "The 
Pleasant  Valley."  Here  he  raised  a  family  of  six 
children,  and  to  each  of  the  hve  sons  he  gave  a  copy 
of  the  Bible,  and  a  lot  of  hfty  acres,  with  a  dwelling 
thereon.  He  died  in  1777.  His  third  child  was  also 
named  Samuel,  and  was  born  on  January  IB,  1729. 
It  is  not  strange  that  this  son  became  a  farmer,  and 
settled  upon  the  fifty-acre  lot  which  had  been  so  given 
to  him  by  his  father.  Tradition  says  that  he  was  ' '  a 
very  exemplary  man ;  truly  pious  and  Grod-f earing." 

Col.  Condit  married  (1)  Abigail,  daughter  of  Joseph 
Halsey.  By  this  union  he  had  Caleb,  Silas,  Charlotte, 
wife  of  Dr.  John  Ward,  Joseph,  and  a  son  who  died  in 
infancy.  He  also  married  (2)  Rhoda,  sister  of  his  first 
wife,  and  by  her  he  had  John  S.,  Abigail  (Smith),  and 
Jacob.  Caleb,  John  S.,  and  Jacob  died  without  issue. 
Silas,  who  became  a  member  of  Congress,  died  Novem- 
ber 29,  1861,  aged  83.  Joseph  left  Orange  and  removed 
to  Geneva,  New  York,  where  he  died  in  1863. 


298  History  of  the   Oranges, 

Dr.  Condit'  s  remains  lie  in  the  old  graveyard.     The 
following  inscription  appears  upon  his  tombstone  : 

Sacred  to  the  Memory 

of 

DOCTOR    JOHN    CONDIT, 

A  patriot  Soldier  and  Surgeon 
During  the  Struggles  of  his  Country 

for  freedom. 

A  member  of  the  N.  J.  Legislature 

And  a  Representative  and  Senator  in 

the  Congress  of  the  U.  States 

for  thirty  years 

in  succession. 

His  honors  were  awarded  him 

by  grateful  constituents  for  his  Sound 

and  vigorous  intellect, 

stern  integrity 

and  unswerving  patriotism 

in  time  of  peril  and  throughout  a  long  life. 

On  the  4th  of  May  1834,  he  died 

in  Christian  hope, 

revered  respected  and  beloved 

by  all  who  knew  him, 

aged  79  years. 


DE.    ISAAC   PIEK90N. 

Dr.  Matthias  Pierson  closed  his  long  and  useful  life 
May  9,  1809,  at  the  age  of  seventy  years.  His  home 
had  been  at  the  Orange  Mountain  from  the  day  of  his 
birth,  through  all  its  eventful  scenes  to  the  day  of  his 
death.  His  record  is  identified  with  its  history.  His 
later  years  were  jDassed  in  the  quietude  of  an  old  age, 
free  from  the  physical  disabilities  and  annoyances 
so  often  attendant  upon  advancing  years.     His  son, 


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Dr.  Isaac  Pier  son.  299 

Dr.  Isaac  Pierson,  succeeded  to  the  arduous  duties 
of  his  profession,  being  thirty-nine  years  of  age  at  the 
time  of  his  father's  death.  He  had  been  in  practice 
about  seventeen  years,  and  was  the  only  physician  at 
the  Orange  Mountain.  He  was  born  August  15,  1770, 
pursued  his  preliminary  studies  at  the  Orange  Acad- 
emy, and  was  graduated  from  the  College  of  New  Jer- 
sey, at  Princeton,  in  1789.  Among  his  classmates  was 
the  celebrated  Doctor  David  Hosack,  with  whom  he 
maintained  a  personal  friendship  during  the  remainder 
of  his  life.  Gov.  Mahlon  Dickerson,  of  New  Jersey, 
Ephraim  King  Wilson  and  Silas  Wood,  members  of 
Congress,  were  also  among  his  classmates.  He  re- 
ceived his  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  from  the  Col- 
lege of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  New  York. 

Wood^ s  Newark  Gazette,  January  6,  1796,  has  the 
following  notice  of  the  young  Doctor:  "Married 
29  Dec.  1795,  by  ReV  Mr.  Chapman,  Doctor  Isaac 
Pierson  to  Miss  Nancy  Crane,  daughter  of  Mr.  Aaron 
Crane  of  Cranetown."  By  this  marriage  union  he 
had  ten  children;  Dr.  William,  Rev.  Albert,  Phebe 
(Condit),  Fanny  (Jessup),  Rev.  Gfeorge,  Edward,  Aaron, 
Isaac,  Harriett  (Collins),  Sarah  (Terry.) 

Like  his  father  before  him.  Dr.  Isaac  was  identified 
with  public  affairs,  holding  positions  of  honor  and 
influence.  He  served  as  Sheriff  of  Essex  County,  and 
afterwards  represented  his  district  in  the  20th  and  21  st 


%^c  y^yof? 


Congresses  of  the  United  States.  He  was  active  in 
advancing  the  moral  interests  of  the  people,  and  in 
l^romoting  the  religious  interests  of  the  community, 


300  History  of  the  Oranges. 

having  made  a  profession  of  his  faith  in  Christ  in 
the  year  1810. 

As  a  medical  man  he  was  highly  esteemed,  and  on 
all  occasions  he  manifested  a  strong  desire  to  advance 
the  honor  of  his  profession.  He  was  a  Fellow  of  the 
Medical  Society  of  New  Jersey,  and  its  President  in 
1827,  Being  known  as  a  man  of  good  judgment,  and 
as  a  safe  adviser,  matters  of  difference  were  frequently 
referred  to  him,  and  his  decision  was  generally  ac- 
cepted^as  final. 

He  died  September  22,  1833,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
three.  His  eldest  son,  William  Pierson,  M.D.,  also  a 
Fellow  of  the  Medical  Society  of  New  Jersey,  and 
who  had  been  associated  with  him  for  thirteen  years, 
succeeded  to  his  practice. 

DR.  WILLIAM   PIERSOlSr,  SENIOR. 

The  memorial  notice  which  follows,  was  written  by 
the  author  of  this  volume  for  the  Medical  Society  of 
New  Jersey,  in  the  year  1883  : 

Doctor  William  Pierson,  son  of  Dr.  Isaac  Pierson, 
was  born  in  Orange,  N.  J.,  December  4,  1796.  ^  He 
pursued  his  early  studies  in  Orange  Academy,  and  in 
1816  was  graduated  from  the  College  of  New  Jersey 
with  thirty-three  others,  of  whom  were  John  Maclean, 
(afterwards  President  of  the  College,)  Charles  (after- 
wards Bishop,)  Mcllvaine,  Judges  Nevius  and  White- 
head, and  his  brother.  Rev.  Albert  Pierson,  who  died 
nineteen  years  before  him. 


I.  Dr.  Pierson  was  descended  from  Thomas  Pierson,  one  of  the  Asso- 
ciates from  Branford,  of  the  New  Haven  Colony,  who  settled  Newark  in 
i666.  He  was  a  kinsman,  probably  a  brother,  of  Rev.  Abraham  Pierson, 
who  came  with  the  Colony  as  its  minister.  Thomas  had  a  son,  Samuel,  and 
he  a  son,  Samuel  (2d,)  whose  gth  son  was  D""  Matthias,  who  had  Dr  Isaac, 
the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 


Dr.    William  Pier  son  j  Senior.  301 

That  he  assidnoiisly  availed  himself  of  the  privileges 
of  the  institution,  is  illustrated  by  the  fact  that,  upon 
graduating,  he  divided  the  first  honors  of  the  college 
with  his  brother,  their  standing  being  equal  and  in 
their  class  facile  'princi'pes. 

He  entered  uj)on  the  study  of  medicine  with  his 
father,  then  practising  in  Orange ;  attended  his  first 
course  of  lectures  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  his  second  in  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons in  New  York.    While  there  he  was  in  the  offices 


.^-z^^'^ 


of  Dr.  David  Hosack,  an  old  fellow-student  and  friend 
of  his  father,  and  of  Valentine  Mott.  With  the  latter 
he  afterwards  maintained  a  personal  intimacy  to  the 
time  of  his  old  preceptor's  death.  He  was  present  by 
invitation  at  his  celebrated  operation  of  ligature  of  the 
innominata. ' 

After  completing  his  course  of  study,  he  was  licensed 
to  practice  by  the  Medical  Society  of  New  Jersey,  in 
1820.  He  subsequently  received  from  the  same  So- 
ciety the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine.  He 
became  a  practitioner  in  his  native  town  in  association 
with  his  father,  and  continued  his  professional  work 
till  advancing  years  and  the  infirmities  of  age  led  to  his 
withdrawal. 

Dr.  Pierson  married  Margaret  Riker,  daughter  of 
Rev.  Dr.  Hillyer,  fourth  pastor  of  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Orange.  She  died  in  1853.  By  this 
union  he  had  six  children.  Two  died  in  infancy.  Ed- 
ward Dixon  died  a  few  months  before  him,  in  a  mature 
and  honorable  manhood ;  Dr.  William,  Jr. ,  and  two 
daughters  survive. 


302  History  of  the  Oranges. 

The  Doctor  was  devoted  to  Ms  profession.  His  prac- 
tice was  large  and  over  a  wide  district.  In  his  earlier 
years  there  was  no  case  in  surgery  which  he  hesitated 
to  undertake,  and  in  medical  and  obstetrical  practice 
he  was  self-reliant  and  successful.  He  kept  a  record 
of  over  two  thousand  cases  of  labor,  his  observations  on 
which  he  read  some  years  since  before  the  Medical 
Society  of  New  Jersey.  He  was  loyal  to  the  welfare 
and  honor  of  his  profession.     Licensed  to  practice  in 

1820,  he  appears  as  a  delegate  to  the  State  Society  in 

1821.  From  that  date,  for  nearly  sixty  years,  its  rec- 
cords  bear  testimony  to  his  fidelity,  and  to  the  appre- 
ciation and  respect  of  his  medical  associates. 

He  began  earlier  in  life  than  he  was  aware  of,  to  be 
an  instrument  for  good  in  medicine.  Being  born  in 
the  same  year  in  which  Jenner  i)ublished  his  discovery 
of  vaccination,  his  father,  who  took  great  interest  in 
the  subject  and  who  was  desirous  of  testing  its  worth, 
as  well  as  the  comparative  value  of  inoculation,  vac- 
cinated the  little  boy  and  his  brother,  arid  at  the  same 
time  inoculated  two  other  children  of  about  the  same 
age,  and  placed  the  four  in  the  same  room.  The  dis- 
ease in  each  ran  its  specific  course  to  a  successful  issue, 
and  convinced  the  father  that  a  perfect  protection 
against  small  pox  had  been  found  in  vaccination.  He 
never  inoculated  afterwards.  It  may  be  stated  here 
that  the  subject  of  our  sketch,  when  he  became  a  phy- 
sician, never  vaccinated  more  than  once,  and  always 
in  the  arm.  He  did  not  believe  re- vaccination  neces- 
sary. About  ten  years  before  his  death  he  yielded  to 
to  the  persuasions  of  his  son,  and  was  re-vaccinated, 
after  he  had  ceased  to  practice  medicine. 

As  a  citizen  and  a  public  man,  he  was  judicious  in 
counsel  and  jealous  for  the  welfare  of  the  people.  In 
1837-8,  he  was  a  member  of   the  Legislature  of  New 


Dr.    William  Pierson,  Senior-  303 

Jersey.  Subsequently  lie  was  director  of  tlie  Board 
of  Freeholders,  and  from  1846  to  1850,  Sheriff  of  Essex 
County.  He  was  active  in  promoting  the  building  of 
the  Morris  and  Essex  Railroad.  He  was  a  corporator 
of  the  Newark  Savings  Institution  and  for  many  years, 
Vice-President  of  the  same.  He  originated  and  be- 
came a  corporator  of  the  Rosedale  Cemetery  of  Orange 
in  1840,  and  nearly  to  the  close  of  his  life  was  an  active 
trustee.  When  the  Town  of  Orange  was  incorporated, 
he  was  elected  its  first  Mayor,  serving  continuously  for 
three  years,  and  for  three  years  thereafter  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Common  Council.  These  varied  responsi- 
bilities were  distinguished  in  their  execution  by  intel- 
ligence and  a  sacred  devotion  to  the  public  good. 

His  active  professional  and  public  duties  left  him 
little  time  to  note  his  observations  as  a  writer.  He 
read  a  few  papers  before  the  State  Medical  Society  of 
New  Jersey,  which  are  published  in  its  Transactions, 
notably  its  Centennial  History,  and  two  reports  ;  one 
of  Obstetrical  Practice,  the  other  of  cases  of  Hydro- 
phobia. His  terse,  doric  style  reflects  the  classic  im- 
press of  his  early  scholarship,  and  gives  evidence  that, 
if  he  had  given  himself  to  the  pursuits  of  literature, 
he  would  have  acquired  distinction. 

Dr.  Pierson  descended  from  a  godly  ancestry,  and 
his  early  training  was  under  religious  influences. 
While  he  was  in  college  he  became  a  subject  of  a  re- 
vival of  religion  which  occurred  in  the  institution 
during  his  last  year.  His  subsequent  life  was  exem- 
plary, and  his  interest  in  the  progress  and  welfare  of 
the  church  was  uniform  and  earnest.  He  did  not, 
however,  make  a  public  profession  of  his  faith  in 
Christ  till  his  later  years,  uniting  with  the  church  in 
1876,  six  years  before  his  decease.  He  then,  and  ever 
after,  expressed  his  regret  that  he  had  so  long  deprived 


304 


History   of  the   Oranges. 


himself  of  his  privilege  by  resisting  the  claims  of  duty 
which  had  pressed  themselves  upon  him  ever  since 
his  conversion  in  college.  This  writer  can  bear  testi- 
mony to  his  expressions  of  trust  in  the  merits  of  his 
Saviour,  and,  as  the  weight  of  years  bore  heavily  upon 
him,  a  longing  to  depart  and  be  with  Him. 

In  the  early  Sabbath  dawn  of  October  1,  1882,  with 
little  premonition,  and  without  a  struggle,  he  peace- 
fully passed  into  the  noon-day  light  of  the  Heavenly 
Rest.  His  remains  were  borne  to  their  resting  place  by 
the  young  physicians  of  Orange,  and  laid  by  them  in 
the  sepulchre  prepared  by  himself,  amid  the  surround- 
ings, largely  formed  by  his  own  taste,  in  the  Rosedale 
Cemetery,  which  it  had  been  for  so  many  years  his 
pleasure  to  adorn  and  beautify. 


CHAPTER  Xiy. 


A    FEW    NOTABLE    MEN, 


BETHUEL   PIEESOlSr. 

THOMAS  PIERSON  — supposed  to  have  been  a 
brother  of  the  Rev.  Abraham,  who  came  to  New- 
ark in  1666— was  the  ancestor  of  the  family  in  the 
Oranges.  He  was  an  original  Associate,  and  was  pos- 
sessed of  a  good  estate.  He  had  a  son,  Samnel,  who 
was  three  years  old  in  1666.  About  the  year  1685,  he 
came  to  the  Mountain,  and  settled  at  South  Orange. 

He  and  his  sons  were  carpenters.  It  is  traditional 
that  they  were  the  chief  builders  of  the  first  meeting- 
house of  the  Mountain  Society.  He  died  in  1730,  leav- 
ing three  sons,  namely,  Joseph,  Samuel  and  James. 
Joseph  and  Samuel  remained  at  the  Mountain.  James 
abandoned  New  Jersey,  and  settled  on  Lake  Cham- 
plain. 

Bethuel  Pierson,  the  subject  of  our  sketch,  was  the 
fourth  child  of  Joseph.  He  was  born  in  1721,  and 
died  at  the  age  of  seventy  years.     Hi^  life  was  one  of 


i^'-^^ 


great  activity.     The  responsibilities  to  which  he  was 
called,  in  matters  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  illus- 

20 


3o6  History  of  the  Oranges. 

trate  the  confidence  reposed  in  him  by  the  people.  In 
1761,  he  was  one  of  the  agents  appointed  by  the  Town 
of  Newark  to  allot  and  divide  the  parsonage  lands  be- 
tween the  three  societies,  or  congregations,  known  as 
the  First  Presbyterian  Society,  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, and  the  Mountain  Society.  ^ 

In  1772,  the  poor  of  the  town  were  farmed  out  to 
him,  as  the  lowest  bidder,  at  £148,  10s ;  and,  in  the 
next  year,  at  £157.  ^  That  he  was  possessed  of  a  good 
estate  may  be  inferred  from  his  liberal  contributions 
for  the  building  of  our  second  meeting-house  and  the 
Parsonage.  In  1762,  he  was  elected  an  Elder  in  the 
Mountain  Society,  and  all  his  subsequent  life  bore 
testimony  to  his  fidelity  to  his  ordination  vows. 

He  was  distinguished  for  his  patriotism  during  the 
Revolution,  and  was  among  the  tried  men  of  the  Town- 
ship in  sustaining  the  cause  of  his  country.  In  1774, 
he  was  made  one  of  the  Committee  of  Observation. 
In  May,  1775,  he  was  elected  by  the  freeholders  to  rep- 
resent the  county  in  the  Provincial  Congress,  being 
associated  with  men  of  such  prominence  as  Isaac  Og- 
den,  Philip  Van  Cortland  and  Isaac  Camp. 

When  the  discord  of  war  gave  place  to  the  hum  of 
peaceful  industry,  we  find  the  name  of  Bethuel  Pierson 
connected  mth  all  the  best  enterprises  of  the  Town, 
civil,  moral  and  religious.  He  was  a  model  citizen, 
and  his  works  do  follow  him. 

He  first  married  Elizabeth  Riggs,  after  whose  de- 
cease, he  married  Widow Taylor..    He  had  one 

son.  Dr.  Cyrus,  born  in  1756,  and  two  daughters,  Rhoda 
and  Mary.     He  died  in  1791. 


1.  Newark  Town  Records,  p.  145. 

2.  lb.,  pp.  153,  154- 


Thomas   Williams.  307 

THOMAS   WILLIA^rS 

Was  a  son  of  Matthew  (2),  who  was  the  second  son 
of  the  primitive  Matthew  Williams.  Captain  Thomas 
was  born  in  1740.  When  the  War  began,  he  was 
thirty-six  years  old.  His  homestead  was  on  Washing- 
ton Street,  the  same  which  was  occnpied  by,  and  still 
belongs  to  the  estate  of,  his  grandson,  Judge  Jesse 
Williams,  who  died  in  1885. 

Thomas  was  an  earnest  patriot,  and  was  commission- 
ed as  captain  of  a  company  of  local  militia  in  Colonel 
Van  Cortland's  regiment.     He  was  known  throughout 

the  War,  and  ever  after,  as 
Captain  Tom."^  Wash- 
ington confided  in  his  loy- 
alty, and  on  more  than 
one  occasion,  when  passing  through  this  region,  visited 
him  at  his  house.  The  Captain  was  a  leading  man  in 
his  own  neighborhood,  but  we  infer  that  he  confined 
himself  to  it ;  his  name  does  not  appear  anywhere  in 
the  municipal  affairs  of  the  township  at  large. 

He  was  well  known  to  the  Tories,  but  escaped  seri- 
ous injury  to  himself  or  his  property.  One  day,  a 
party  of  about  forty  Hessian  soldiers  came  to  his 
house.  The  Captain  was  in  the  yard.  His  visitors 
threatened  to  shave  one-half  of  his  head.  When  about 
to  proceed  to  the  operation,  they  were  attracted  by 
some  barrels  of  cider  standing  near  at  hand.  Having 
drank  all  they  wanted,  (which  was  not  a  little,)  they 
took  their  leave,  going  across  the  fields  towards  the 
highway,  now  Main  Street.  At  a  convenient  spot,  in 
the  rear  of  the  meeting-house,  and  on  the  site  of  our 


I.  The  note,  on  page  173,  which  refers  the  title  of  Captain  Williams  to 
his  having  had  command  of  the  Parish  Sloop,  was  an  error.  It  may  be  seen, 
on  page  233,  that  he  held  the  title  in  December,  1784,  at  the  parish  meeting 
when  it  was  determined  to  build  a  boat. 


3o8  History  of  the  Oranges. 

present  Music  Hall,  they  lay  down  among  the  trees 
and  slept  off  the  effects  of  their  potations. 

Among  the  manuscripts  in  the  library  of  the  New- 
Jersey  Historical  Societj^  is  an  original  record  of  a 
"court  martial  held  at  Newark  Mountain,  July  7, 1780, 
at  the  house  of  Samuel  Munn,  [now  the  Park  House,] 
for  the  trial  of  several  soldiers  in  Col.  Philip  Van 
Cortland's  Regiment,  Essex  County  Militia,  belonging 
to  Capt.  Thomas  Williams'  Company,  for  disobeying 
orders  and  not  turning  out  on  their  proper  tour  of 
duty,  on  the  20th  of  June  last,  and  on  the  alarm  of 
the  23d  of  June,  and  for  desertion." 

The  court  was  composed  of  Qaptains  Josiah  Pier- 
son,  President,  Thomas  Williams,  Isaac  Gillam  and 
Henry  Joralemon ;  Lieutenants  Henry  Squire  and  John 
Edwards ;  and  Ensigns  Remington  Parcel,  Thomas 
Baldwin  and  Ralf  Post.  The  court  found  the  ac- 
cused guilty  of  all  the  charges  against  them,  and  unan- 
imously agreed  to  fine  them  in  the  several  sums  affixed 
to  their  names :  Jonathan  Williams,  £500  ;  Charles 
Crane,  £200 ;  and  Joseph  Tomkins,  £3,  15,  0. 

Exemplary  punishment,  it  would  seem,  until  we  re- 
member that  the  fines  were  to  be  paid  in  continental 
money,  of  which,  in  that  year,  eight  thousand  nine 
hundred  dollars  were  equivalent  to  one  hundred  dol- 
lars in  silver. 

BENJAMIN    WILLIAMS 

Was  a  cousin  of  Captain  Thomas ;  being  the  eldest 
son  of  Amos,  the  brother  of  Thomas'  father.  Benjamin 
and  Thomas  were  of  nearly  the  same  age.  Both  were 
of  good  wordly  estate.  The  former  was  a  loyalist,  and 
became  a  refugee  within  the  enemy's  lines. 

The  Tory  element  was  not  made  up  of  any  single 
class  or  condition  of  men.     Some  of  them  were  arrant 


Benjamin    Williatns.  309 

cowards,  in  abject  fear  of  the  35,000  soldiers  of  the 
well-appointed  army  of  Great  Britain.  Others,  and 
perhaps  the  largest  class,  were  made  up  of  those  who, 
in  every  community  and  in  every  period,  have  not 
achieved  worldly  success,  who  are  envious  of  their  more 
prosperous  neighbors,  or  who  believe  that  the  world 
owes  them  a  living,  whether  it  come  by  fraud  or  by 
fidelity  to  the  right.  It  was  this  class  which  caused 
such  apprehension,  and  such  havoc  in  New  Jersey,  in 
the  last  month  of  1776.  But,  the  third  and  the  best 
class  was  composed  of  those  who  were  honestly  un- 
settled in  their  minds,  as  to  the  measures  required  to 
secure  a  redress  of  political  grievances,  and  the  future 

peace  and  prosperity  of  the  American  Colonies.  They 
were  unwilling  to  meet  the  momentous  issue  by  a 
declaration  of  Independence  of  the  mother  country. 
When  hostilities  were  actually  begun,  and  a  large 
British  army  had  been  landed  on  Long  Island  and 
Staten  Island,  there  were  many  of  these  over-cautious 
people  in  New  York,  and  not  a  few  in  New  Jersey, 
who  left  their  homes  and  Joined  that  army,  or  placed 
themselves  under  its  protection. 

The  subject  of  our  notice  belonged  to  this  last  men- 
tioned class.  He  was  a  man  of  standing  and  influence 
in  his  neighborhood.  It  would  appear  that  he  was 
something  of  a  leader  there,  as  he  acquired  the  sobri- 
quet of  "Governor  Ben,"  and  retained  it  to  the  end 
of  his  long  life. 

In  December,  1776,  he  received  protection  from  His 
Majesty's  Commissioner  in  Newark,  and,  on  February 
27,  1777,  two  months  thereafter,  he  took  the  oath  of 


3IO  History  of  the  Oranges. 

allegiance  to  the  King,  at  New  York,  and  became  a 
member  of  tlie  Royal  Militia.  ^ 

The  Legislature    of  New  Jersey,   recognizing  that 
many  who  had  thus  exiled    themselves  from  their 
homes  might  desire  to  return,  passed  an  act  on  June 
6,  1777,  granting  a  "free  and  general  pardon  for  all 
offenders  who  desired  to  return  to  their  allegiance  and 
adhere  to  their  country's  cause,  by  taking  the  oath  pre- 
scribed, before  the  fifth  of  August  next  ensuing,  before 
a  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court,  or  Court  of  Common 
Pleas,  or  justice  of  the  peace."     By  the  earnest  solic- 
itation of  Capt.  Thomas  Williams,  whose  regard  and 
friendship  for  his  cousin  had  not  been  lessened  by  this 
diversity  of  political  sentiment,  "Governor  Ben"  was 
persuaded  to  save  his  property  from  confiscation.     He 
then  owned  considerable  land,  and  had  gone  to  much 
expense  in  improving  it.    Attended  by  Captain  Thomas 
Williams  and  Stephen  Harrison,  Esq. ,  he  went  before 
Judge  John  Peck,  of  the  Essex  Court  of  Common  Pleas, 
and,  as  the  last  hours  of  the  last  day  limited  by  the 
statute  were  closing,  he  took  the  oath  of  abjuration 
of  kingly  authoritj^,  as  well  as  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  new  government.  ^     This  latter  oath  he  kept 
according  to  the  letter  thereof,  but  his  sympathy  with 
the  cause  of  Independence  was  not  cordial.     To  the 
end  of  his  life,  he  cherished  a  love  for  the  mother 
country  and  its  institutions.     When  he  was  in  New 
York  he  was  treated  well  and  with  respect,  and  he  had 
access  to  the  books  in  the  officers'  quarters.     Among 
them  was  a  work  on  Episcopacy,  written  by  one  of  the 


1.  From  old  documents  preserved  by  the  family. 

2.  The  oath  was  as  follows  :  "  I,  A.  B.,  do  sincerely  profess  and  swear 
(or  affirm)  that  I  do,  and  will,  bear  faith  and  allegiance  to  the  government 
established  in  this  State  under  the  authority  of  the  people.  So  help  me 
God." 


Benjamin    Williams.  3 1 1 

non-juring  bishops.  The  reading  of  this  book  drew 
his  attention  to  the  ecclesiastical  polity  and  religious 
faith  of  the  Church  of  England,  which  he  quickly 
adopted  and  to  which  he  ever  after  gave  his  adherence. 
How  faithful  and  efficient  it  was,  will  appear  later  in 
the  progress  of  this  history. 

His  brother,  Nathaniel,  together  with  his  two  sons, 
Amos  and  James,  were  uncompromising  in  their  loy- 
alty to  the  King.  He  went  to  New  York,  and  died 
there  of  small  pox.  His  house  and  the  land  adjoining 
it,  now  known  as  "the  Bramhall  property,"  in  Tory 
Corner,  were  confiscated  and  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the 
State.  His  wife,  who  was  a  sister  of  Dr.  Matthias 
Pierson,  was  so  much  esteemed  at  the  Mountain  that 
no  one  would  bid  against  her  at  the  sale,  and  thus  de- 
prive her  and  her  family  of  their  home.     She  bought  it 

in  for  £5.  Amos,  one  of  the  sons  of  Nathaniel,  exiled 
himself  to  Nova  Scotia,  and  died  there.  James,  the 
other  son,  was  about  twenty  years  old  when  he  went 
to  New  York,  and  entered  the  British  service.  He 
was  there  in  the  severe  winter  of  1779-80,  when  the  Bay 
of  New  York  was  frozen  so  hard  that  sleighs,  heavily 
laden  with  provisions,  crossed  from  New  York  to 
Staten  Island.  He  also  emigrated  to  Nova  Scotia, 
and  after  remaining  there  for  thirty  years,  returned 
to  the  old  neighborhood,  where  he  married  and  died, 
without  issue,  in  1825. 

These  royalists  all  lived  in  ' '  Tory  Corner. ' '  At  times, 
it  has  been  called  "  Williamsville ;"  but  the  old  War- 
name  can  never  be  displaced.  It  is  a  pleasing  reflec- 
tion that,  if  a  few  of  the  earlier  inhabitants  were  dis- 


^ ^^^i  i/ecA 


312  History  of  the  Oranges. 

loyal  to  the  American  cause,  they  were  honestly  so, 
and  that  their  neighbors  always  held  them  in  high 
regard 

JOHN   PECK. 

This  son  of  Deacon  Joseph  Peck,  and  grandson  of 
Joseph,  one  of  the  first  Newark  settlers,  was  born  in 
1732,  and  died  in  1811.  Though  a  man  of  no  letters, 
he  possessed  large  influence  and  was  fearless  and 
positive  in  his  opinions.  He  became  a  Judge  of  the 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.     His  respect,  however,  for 

the  opinions  of  lawyers  was 
very  small.  On  one  occasion, 
while  a  case  was  being  argued 
before  him,  he  interrupted  the  attorney's  speech  by 
calling  out:  "Be  brief,  Mr.  Ogden,  I  have  given 
judgment."  One  of  his  decisions  was  :  "A  man  who 
has  a  deed  for  his  land,  owns  from  the  centre  of  the 
earth  to  the  top  of  the  heavens."  He  was  an  Elder  of 
the  Orange  church  in  1784. 

To  the  British,  during  the  War,  he  was  very  obnox- 
ious on  account  of  his  active  patriotism,  and  he  was 
in  frequent  danger  of  capture,  being  sometimes  com- 
pelled to  make  a  hasty  flight  on  his  horse  for  refuge 
over  the  Mountain.  His  house,  built  of  stone,  was 
on  the  southeast  corner  of  Main  Street  and  Maple  Ave- 
nue, in  East  Orange.  The  latter  highway  now  runs 
through  his  acres.  The  locality  was  called  "Peck's 
Hill ' '  for  a  century  or  more,  and  is  still  so  called  by 
the  old  people.  The  old  homestead  was  taken  down  in 
1813,  and  much  of  the  stone  composing  it  was  worked 
into  the  walls  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  which 
was  then  in  process  of  construction.  His  son,  Joseph, 
who  inherited  the  property,  built  a  framed  dwelling- 
house,  to  which  he  removed,  and  in  which  his  family 
continued  to  reside  for  many  years. 


Stephen  D.  Day.  313 

STEPHEN   D.    DAY. 

Stephen  D.  Day,  a  descendant  of  George  Day,  one 
of  the  Newark  settlers,  came  to  Orange  in  or  about 
1798.  On  March  30th,  of  that  year,  he  purchased  land 
on  the  southwesterly  corner  of  Main  and  Cone  streets  ; 
the  latter  of  which  was  described  in  the  deed  as  ' '  the 
new  road  lately  laid  out."  The  lot  reached  from  the 
Academy,  eastwardly,  to  the  street  corner.  He  soon 
afterwards  bought  the  land  on  the  easterly  side  of  Cone 
Street,  extending  from  the  line  of  the  same  eastwardly, 
to  the  well  on  the  line  of  the  "  Central  Hotel "  prop- 
erty, then  owned  by  Bethuel  Pierson.  Mr.  Day  built  a 
two -story  house  on  the  corner  of  the  lot  first  pur- 
chased by  him.  Here  he  opened  a  store,  and  con- 
ducted a  general  business,  such  as  was  usual  in  country 
towns  of  that  period.     At  an  early  date  he  formed  a 


co-partnership  with  John  Morris  Lindsley,  whose  sister 
he  married  in  1819.  The  partnership  continued  till 
1806,  when,  in  September  of  that  year,  it  was  dissolved. 
While  this  business  connection  existed,  Mr.  Day  built 
a  new  store  for  the  firm  on  the  easterly  corner  of  Cone 
Street,  the  site  of  which  is  now  occupied  by  the  Orange 
Savings  Bank.  It  was  a  frame  building,  and  in  order 
to  give  place  to  one  of  brick,  was,  some  years  since, 
moved  to  the  southerly  end  of  Cone  Street,  where  it 
now  stands,  and  is  used  as  a  dwelling.  In  1811,  Mr. 
Day  bought  out  his  partner,  Lindsley,  and  continued 
the  business  in  the  old  premises.  In  1813,  he  sold  all 
his  property  on  the  south  side  of  Main  Street  to  Mr. 


314  History  of  the  Oranges. 

lindsley,  taking  in  part  payment  the  lot  on  which 
Music  Hall  now  stands,  and  whereupon  Mr.  Day  soon 
after  built  the  house  and  store  which  he  occupied  till 
his  death. 

Day  Street  was  not  opened  when  this  last  purchase 
was  made.  That  the  improvement  was  then  contem- 
plated, would  appear  from  the  terms  of  the  deed  made 
by  him  to  the  Church  Trustees  about  that  time  for  the 
lot  on  which  the  present  meeting-house  was  erected. 
The  southeastern  corner  of  this  lot  is  described  as 
being  seventy-five  links  from  the  southwestern  corner 
of  John  M.  Lindsley'  s  lot.  These  fifty  feet  were,  in 
1813,  thrown  out  as  a  road  through  Mr.  Day's  land, 
which  road  ran  northwardly  to  the  present  Washington 
Street.     In  1814,  Mr.  Day  built  his  house  on  the  Linds- 


ley lot,  opposite  to  the  new  church.  It  was  a  large, 
double,  two-story  building ;  the  most  conspicuous  as 
well  as  the  best-appointed  dwelling  in  the  district  west 
of  Newark.  The  southwesterly  corner  of  the  ground 
floor  was  used  as  a  country  store.  The  building  was 
burned  to  the  ground  on  Tuesday  night,  March  3, 1866. 
Day  Street  was  laid  out  and  opened  in  1813.  Mr, 
Day  then  owned  the  lands  on  both  sides  of  the  street, 
from  the  main  highway  to  a  point  about  two  hundred 
feet  north  of  Park  Avenue  ;  and  the  Williamses  held 
beyond  him.  The  road  is  distinguished  as  being  the 
first  highway  running  northwardly,  which  was  opened 
between  Park  Street,  or  the  Cranetown  Road,  and  the 


Stephen  D.  Day.  315 

Valley  Road,  There  had  previously  been  a  rude  cart- 
path,  beginning  on  the  main  road  at  a  point  near  the 
present  Cleveland  Street,  and  running  northeastwardly 
to  the  present  line  of  Day  Street,  at  or  near  the  north- 
ern boundary  of  Mr.  Day's  land.  This  cart-path  was 
at  times  wet  and  impassible  by  teams,  and  an  improved 
highway  was  needed. 

Judge  Day  was  born  July  1,  1772.  His  descent 
from  the  primitive  settler  of  Newark  Township  was  as 
follows : 

1.  George  Day,  settler,  1669.     Rated,  ^120. 

2.  Joseph,  born  1695. 

3.  Jonathan,  born  1720. 

4.  David,  born  1745. 

5.  Stephen  D.,  born  1772. 

His  birth-place  was  Camptown,  now  Irvington,  and 
his  mother  was  Elizabeth  Lyon,  of  Lyons  Farms.  He 
had  three  brothers  and  five  sisters.  David,  one  of  his 
brothers,  died  and  was  buried  in  Orange.  A  sister 
named  Comfort,  married  Stephen  C.  Ayres.  Three  of 
her  sons  became  successful  and  highly  esteemed  phy- 
sicians in  the  Western  States. 

Stephen  D.  Day  married  (1)  Sarah,  daughter  of 
Judge  John  Lindsley,  whose  former  home,  on  South 
Orange  Avenue,  is  now  owned  and  occupied  by  the 
Roman  Catholics  as  an  Orphan  Asylum.  Six  children 
were  born  of  this  union,  of  whom  three  died  in  in- 
fancy ;  the  remaining  three  were  Robert  Patten,  born 
December  16,  1799  ;  Eliza,  bom  October  8,  1805,  mar- 
ried Rev.  George  Pierson  ;  and  Charles  Rodney,  born 
November  6,  1808,  died  August  19,  1870.  The  last- 
named  was  graduated  from  the  College  of  New  Jersey 
at  Princeton,  1880.  Mr.  Day  married  (2)  Mary,  a 
sister  of  his  lirst  wife.     By  her  he  had  no  issue. 


3i6  History  of  the  Oranges. 

In  early  life  he  manifested  great  aptness  for  busi- 
ness and  a  strong  desire  for  active  employment.  No 
undertaking  seemed  too  arduous  for  him  to  engage  in, 
and,  while  yet  young,  he  appeared  to  be  a  man  of  ripe 
experience  and  judgment.  With  a  conscience  awake 
to  his  obligations  to  his  fellow  men  and  to  his  Maker, 
no  selfish  considerations  deterred  him  from  yielding 
to  its  dictates.  Before  the  days  of  total  abstinence, 
the  sale  of  ardent  spirits  had  formed  a  profitable  part 
of  his  large  and  flourishing  trade.  As  was  then  com- 
mon, his  sideboard  was  always  made  inviting  by  his 
well-filled  decanters,  which  were  hospitably  open  to 
every  guest.  The  arguments  against  the  use  of  strong 
drink  had  made  no  impression  upon  him.  It  hap- 
pened, however,  upon  a  certain  occasion,  that  a  sea 
captain,  who  was  his  guest,  sickened  and  died  at  his 
house.  From  his  house  also  the  deceased  was  con- 
veyed to  the  grave ;  and,  as  was  then  customary,  the 
well-furnished  decanters  on  the  sideboard  were  re- 
sorted to  during  the  preliminary  services,  and  to  such 
a  degree  that  the  bearers  were  unable  to  perform  their 
duty  with  proper  decorum.  When  Mr.  Day  returned 
from  the  grave,  he  promptly  ordered  the  decanters  to 
be  emptied  and  removed  from  their  accustomed  place. 
From  that  time  onward  he  was  a  pronounced  and  con- 
sistent advocate  of  temperance  reform.  The  apple  orch- 
ards which  adorned  his  well-tilled  acres  were  cut  down 
by  his  command,  notwithstanding  the  loss  to  him  of 
their  rich  revenues.  His  old  friends  sometimes  up- 
braided him  upon  the  use  of  tobacco,  to  which  he  was 
largely  addicted ;  and  they  freely  charged  him  with 
inconsistency.  He  decided  the  question  in  his  own 
way  and  in  his  own  time.  One  day  when  riding  alone 
he  was  led  to  reflect  upon  the  tobacco  habit — its  waste 
of  money  and  time.     Taking  his  pipe  from  his  mouth 


Stephen  D.  Day,  3 1  7 

he  broke  it  in  pieces,  resolving  never  to  use  it  again. 
A  small  portion  of  the  stem  he  put  in  his  pocket,  and 
kex>t  it  there  for  many  a  long  year,  as  a  continual  re- 
minder of  his  laudable  resolution. 

He  owned  much  real  estate  in  different  parts  of  the 
township  ;  but  such  was  his  desii-e  to  facilitate  im- 
provements and  to  hasten  the  growth  of  the  neighbor- 
hood, that  he  sold  building  lots  whenever  they  were 
called  for,  at  such  low  prices  as  to  excite  ridicule  of 
the  land-grabbers  and  speculators  of  the  period.  He 
introduced  the  first  piano  into  Orange,  for  the  use  of 
his  daughter.  It  is  to  be  supposed  that  he  derived 
more  pleasure  and  profit  from  this  paternal  act,  than 
from  another  venture  which  he  related  to  this  writer. 
About  1828,  he  made  a  journey  to  Easton,  Pa.,  in  a  one- 
horse  wagon.  Having  reached  there  and  disposed 
of  his  load,  it  occurred  to  him  that  he  would  carry 
home  with  him  a  small  quantity  of  anthracite  coal ; 
numerous  heaps  of  which  had  attracted  his  attention 
in  different  parts  of  the  town.  He  had  never  seen  it 
before.  Some  persons  whom  he  met,  and  of  whom  he 
inquired  as  to  its  use  and  value,  told  him  that  the 
stones  might  be  worth  something  for  fuel,  but  that 
they  had  never  tested  them.  It  was  the  day  of  small 
things  with  anthracite,  even  in  Easton.  Our  wide- 
awake townsman  determined  that  he  would  make  a 
trial  of  it,  and  decide  for  himself.  He  therefore  bought 
half  a  ton,  and,  with  it  in  his  wagon,  journeyed  home- 
ward. Upon  his  arrival,  he  experimented  with  his 
recent  purchase  in  both  sitting-room  and  kitchen, 
but  the  refractory  coals  could  not  be  induced  to  burn. 
Kindling  wood  and  bellows  availed  nothing.  There 
was  not  even  a  pretence  of  combustion.  Then  he  car- 
ried a  generous  supi)ly  of  the  carbons  to  a  blacksmith 
shop  near  at  hand,  where  he  and  the  knight  of  the  forge 


3i8  History  of  the  Oranges. 

applied  their  united  energies  to  the  work.  They  suc- 
ceeded, as  he  told  the  writer,  in  making  some  of  the 
stones  "red  hot,"  but  that  was  all— the  stones  did 
not  and  would  not  "take  fire."  Completely  dis- 
gusted, he  abandoned  the  effort.  He  was  perfectly 
satisfied  with  wood  for  domestic  fuel;  the  old  ways 
were  the  best.  The  coals  lay  for  several  years  in  his 
back  yard,  where  they  were  exposed  to  the  eye  of 
every  passer-by,  and  were  always  known  as  "the 
black  stones  which  '  Squire  Day  had  carted  all  the  way 
from  Easton."! 

In  the  War  of  1812,  Mr.  Day  raised  a  company  of 
volunteer  infantry,  to  be  commanded  by  himself  in 
the  service  of  the  United  States  during  the  months  of 
August  and  September.  The  company  was  composed 
of  young  men,  chiefly  farmers  from  over  the  Moun- 
tain. He  generously  offered  to  accept  the  same  pay 
as  the  privates,  and  divided  the  balance  of  his  cap- 
tain's pay  among  them,  'pro  rata.  After  the  work  on 
their  farms  during  the  day  was  completed,  they  came 
down  the  Mountain  by  the  "Christian's  Path,"  and 
spent  the  evening  in  drill.  A  pay-roll,  still  preserved, 
gives  the  names  of  the  officers  and  men,  with  official 
notes,  also,  of  the  service  of  the  company : 

1.  Stephen  D.  Day,  Captain. 

2.  Timothy  Ward,  Lieut. 

3.  Caleb  Quimby,  S.  Major. 

4.  Danl.  Porter,  Sergeant. 

5.  Ira  Pierson,  Sergt. 

6.  Elijah  C.  Pierson,  do. 

7.  Aaron  Pierson,        do. 

8.  Elijah  R.  Hedden,  Corporal. 

9.  Jos.  S.  Condit,  do. 

I.  Anthracite  coal  was  first  used  for  domestic  purposes  by  Judge  Jesse 
Fell,  of  Wilkesbarre,  Pa.,  in  1808.  It  came  into  general  use  upon  the  dis- 
covery of  the  true  method  of  its  combustion  by  Rev.  Eliphalet  Nott,  Presi- 
dent of  Union  College,  in  1828. 


Stephen  D.  Day.  319 


10. 

Silas  D.  Condit,        Corporal. 

II. 

Stephen  Woodruff,       do. 

12. 

Wm.  W.  Tonner,  Musician, 

13. 

Henry  Pierson. 

14. 

W.  Sayres  Condit. 

15. 

Daniel  Pierson. 

16. 

Moses  Ward  Condit. 

17- 

Benj.  Ward. 

18. 

John  Mitchell. 

19. 

John  Mitchell. 

20. 

John  Sullivan. 

21. 

Jotham  Pierson. 

22. 

Benj.  Condit. 

23- 

Joseph  Canfield. 

24. 

Asa  Winchell. 

25. 

Jotham  Condit. 

26. 

Lewis  Williams. 

27. 

Danl.  Cochran. 

28. 

Zebina  Ward. 

29. 

Wm.  Crane. 

30- 

Nehemiah  Tunis. 

31- 

Benj.  Townly. 

32. 

Hiram  Q.  Force. 

33- 

Israel  Coon. 

34. 

John  Gummerson. 

35. 

Squire  Yeoman. 

36. 

Linus  Williams. 

37. 

Caleb  Pierson. 

38. 

Joseph  Smith. 

39- 

Lewis  Pierson. 

40. 

Wm.  P.  Baldwin, 

Pay  per 

month  : 

Capt.,  Lieut,  and  Ensign,  not  noted. 

S. 

Major,  $12. 

Sergeant,  $ii. 

Co 

irporal,  $io. 

Ml 

isician,  $9. 

Privates,  $8, 

Roll  is  endorsed  as  follows  : 

"  Camp  Heights  of  Navesink." 
Sept.  23,  1814. 
"  Brigade  Head  Quarters  : 

Capt.    Day's   Company,    Orange  Volunteers,    agreeable   to   the 
within    Muster    Roll   is   furloughed   for  ten  days,  ending  on  the 


320  History   of  the    Oranges. 

fourth  of  October  next,  on  which  day  they  are  ordered  to  rendez- 
vous at  Newark,  and  repair  with  all  possible  despatch  to  this  en- 
campment, unless  ordered  to  the  contrary. 

Wm.  Colfax, 

B.  Genl." 

Of  tried  integrity,  and  highly  esteemed  by  his  fellow- 
townsmen,  he  held  numerous  positions  of  responsi- 
bility. He  was  the  first  i^resident  of  the  Orange  Bank 
in  1828,  and  retained  the  office  for  twenty-four  years. 
He  was  also  a  State  Senator  for  two  terms  ;  a  director, 
and  at  one  time  the  temporary  president,  of  the  Mor- 
ris and  Essex  Railroad  Comj^any ;  also  for  many  years 
one  of  the  Judges  of  the  County  Court  of  Common 
Pleas.  In  all  the  many  important  enterprises  of  his 
time  he  was  a  wise,  prudent  and  efficient  leader.  He 
was  always  in  the  advance ;  never  in  the  rear.  He 
was  a  believer  in  the  great  principles  of  the  Christian 
faith,  of  which  he  made  a  public  profession  in  1828, 
thirty-one  years  before  his  decease. 

Judge  Day  was  short  of  stature  ;  in  his  later  years, 
stout  in  person;  always  of  quiet  mien  and  cheerful 
manners.  He  had  strong  convictions,  but  did  not 
intrusively  urge  them  upon  others.  Sagacious  and 
successful  in  his  worldly  plans,  he  had  an  eagle  eye  to 
the  promotion  of  the  public  good ;  and  in  his  death, 
on  February  14,  1856,  left  behind  him  the  savor  of  a 
good,  useful  and  honorable  life.  His  mortal  remains 
were  laid  in  the  old  parish  graveyard.  Together  with 
those  of  his  brother,  David,  and  other  members  of  his 
family,  they  were  removed,  some  years  afterwards,  to 
the  Rosedale  Cemetery. 


FACSIMILES    OF    AUTOGRAPHS. 


Baldwin,  Amos,    192. 
Chapman,  Jedidiah,  191. 
Condit,  John,  295. 
Cone,  Joseph,  240. 
Crane,  Jasper,  47. 
Crane,  Nathanael,  86. 
Crane,  William,  144. 
Cundict,  Jemima,  182. 
Cundit,  Matthew,  240. 
Cundict  Samuel,  136. 
Day,  Stephen  D.,  313. 
Dod,  John,  58. 
Dod,  Joseph,  170. 
Dod,  Matthias,  170. 
Dod,  Samuel,   214. 
Dod,  Stephen,  143. 
Dodd,  Calvin,  59. 
Dodd,  Moses,  271. 
Freeman,  Samli,  143. 
Freeman,  Timothy,  136. 
Gardner,  Thomas,  129. 
Harrison,  Aaron,  85. 
Harrison,  Abijah,  294. 
Harrison,  Amos,  38. 
Harrison,  Ira,  14. 
Harrison,  Jared,  270. 
Harrison,  Samll,  85. 
Harison,  Samuel,  187. 
Hillyer,  Asa,  222. 
Jones,  Cyrus,  169. 
Lamson,  Eleazar,  119. 
Lindsley.  John,  257. 


Lindsley,  John  M.,  314. 
Macwhorter,  Alex.,  98. 
Mun,  Aaron,  223. 
Mun,  Benjamin,  280. 
Olef,  Anthony,  49. 
Peck,  John,  312. 
Peck,  Joseph,  124. 
Perry,  John,  223. 
Pierson,  Abraham,  7. 
Pierson,  Bethuel,  305. 
Pierson,  Isaac,  299. 
Pierson,  Matthias,  290. 
Pierson,  Thomas,  8. 
Pierson,  William,  301. 
Prudden,  John, 100. 
Range,  John,  214. 
Riggs,  Jos.,  48. 
Riggs,  Joseph,  123. 
Roe,  Azel,  148. 
Smith,  Caleb,  121. 
Taylor,  Daniel,  104. 
Treatt,  Robert,  3. 
Webb,  Joseph,  97. 
Wheeler,  Nathanil,  48. 
Williams,  Amos,  51. 
Williams,  Benjamin,  309. 
Williams,  David,  144. 
Williams,  Isaac,  245. 
Williams,  James,  311. 
WMlliams,  Matthew,  84. 
Williams,  Nathaniel,  274. 
Williams,  Thomas,  307. 


Index. 


321 


INDEX. 


A. 

Baldwin, 

Academy,  the,  229,  262. 

Baldwin, 

Acorn,  William,  184. 

Baldwin, 

Akin,  William,  206. 

Baldwin, 

Alberts,  Hance,  250. 

Baldwin, 

Allen,  Joseph,  164. 

Baldwin, 

Allen,  Samuel,  140,  290. 

Baldwin, 

Amett,  Hannah,  19S. 

Amett,  Isaac,  19S. 

Baldwin, 

Apple  Orchards,  38. 

Baldwin, 

Anti-Renters,  91. 

Baldwin, 

Arthur,  Rev.  'fhomas,  125. 

Baldwin, 

Ashfield,  Euphemia,  277,  278. 

Baldwin, 

Ashfield,  Isabella,  277. 

Baldwin, 

Ashfield,  Lewis  Morris,  277. 

Baldwin, 

Ashfield,  Mary,  277. 

Baldwin, 

Ashfield,  Richard,  277. 

Baldwin, 

Astor,  John  Jacob,  281. 

Baldwin, 

Axtel,  Rev.  Henry,  204. 

Baldwin, 

Ayres,  Comfort,  315. 

Baldwin, 

Ayres,  Stephen  C,  315. 

Baldwin, 

Baldwin, 

B. 

Babbit,  Daniel,  230,  271. 
Bacon,  John,  291. 
Baldwin,  Aaron,  140,  149,   15T,  153, 

206,  208. 
Baldwin,  Abigail,  209. 
Baldwin,  Amos,  iii,   140,   149,   151, 

152,  192. 
Baldwin,  Benjamin,    140,    149,    152, 

203. 

Isaldwin,  Bethuel,  209. 

Baldwin,  Caleb,   138,   180,  181,   208, 

210. 
Baldwin,  Daniel,  140. 
Baldwin,  David,  137,  140,  1 51. 
Baldwin,  Eleazer,  153. 
Baldwin,  Electa,  208. 
Baldwin,  Elijah,  253. 
Baldwin,  Elizabeth,  206,  208. 
Baldwin,  Esther,  152,  208. 
Baldwin,  Eunice,  206,  208. 
Baldwin,  Hannah,  210. 
Baldwin,  Hulda,  151. 
Baldwin,  Israel,  140. 
Baldwin,  Jeremiah,  138,    140,  292. 
Baldwin,  Joanna,  209. 
Baldwin,  Job,  208. 

21 


,  Jonathan,   206,   210. 

,  Joseph,  151,  208-210,  233. 

,  Joseph  T.,  233^. 

,  Joshua,  140. 

,  josiah,  131,  206. 

,  Einus,  153. 

,  Mary,  iii,    151.   207,  208, 
210. 

,  Moses,  140,  143- 

,  Nehemiah,  64,  133. 

,  Rebecca,  208. 

,  Rhoda,  151. 

,  Robert,  138,  140,  149,  153. 

,  Samuel.  95. 

,  Sarah,  151,  152,  208. 

,  Silas,  207,  208. 

,  Simeon,  206. 

,  Susannah,  153. 

,  Thomas,  308. 

,  William  P.,  319. 

,  Zadoc,  209,  275. 

,  Zebulon,  208. 
Ball,  Caleb,  47,  49,  50. 
Ball,  Edward,  50. 
Ball,  Ezekiel,  234. 
Banks,  Joseph,  280. 
Baptisms,  151,  153,  207-210. 
Baptist  Church,   at  Northfield,  21S  ; 
at  Lyons  Farms,  219;    Early 
Days  of,   220  ;    iS^'ames  of  its 
Pastors,  221. 
Bay  Psalm  Book,  The,  108. 
Bayne,  Hannah,  146. 
Beach,  Abby,  198. 
Beach,  David,  140. 
Beach,  Nathaniel,  198. 
Belcher,  Governor,  277. 
Bellamy,  Rev.  Joseph,  190,  191,  196. 
Belleville,  2  ;  Raids  of  British  troops 
into,  168  ;  Brave  men  from,  175. 
Berkelv,  Lord  John,  78,  80,  89. 
Bills  of  Credit.     See  Paper  Money. 
Bloomfield,  Gen.  Joseph,  218. 
Bloomfield,  2  ;    Privilege   to   dig  for 
ore  in,   57  ;    Church  at,  218  ; 
Origin  of  the  name,  218. 
Boots  and  Shoes,  43,  278.     See  also 

Shoeniaking. 
Bostedo,  Agnes,  207. 


122 


History  of  the  Oranges 


Bostedo,  Peter,  138,  140. 

Bostedo,  Sarah,  206. 

Boston  Port  Bill,  158  ;  Action  of  the 
House  of  Burgesses  of  Virginia 
in  regard  to,  159  ;  Meeting  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Essex  Coun- 
ty, and  their  action  relating  to, 
160 ;  Action  of  a  Conveniion 
of  the  Committees  of  the  sev- 
eral counties  in  regard  to,  161- 
163. 

Boudinot,  Elias,  60,   161. 

Boudinot,  Elisha,  165. 

Bowen,  Lemuel,  140. 

Bowers,  Rev.  Nathaniel,  98,  99,  250. 

Bowers,  Timothy,  140. 

Boylston,  Dr.  Zabdial,  2S4. 

Brainard,  David,  26,  27. 

Bramhall  Property,  311. 

Branford,  Church  at,  5. 

Brown,  Job,  140. 

Bruen,  Charlotte,  207. 

Bruen,  Timothy,  207. 

Buckingham,  Rev.  Jedidiah,  98,  99, 
101-103,  105. 

Buckingham,  Mrs.  Mary,  102. 

Buckingham,  Rev.  Stephen,  102. 

Buckingham,  Thomas,  102. 

Buel,  Rev.  Dr.,  227. 

Building  Lots,  239,  240. 

Burgesses,  72. 

Burnet,  Edmund,  151. 

Burnet,  Governor,  61. 

Burnet,  Dr.  Ichabod,  289  ;  A  copy  of 
one  of  his  bills,  290  ;  The  in- 
structor of  Dr.  Matthias  Pier- 
son,  292. 

Burnet,  Jemima,  151. 

Burnet,  John  R.,  221. 

Burnet,  Mary,  150,  151. 

Burnet,  Silas,  149,  150-152. 

Burnett,  Dr.  William,   164,  165. 

Burr,  Rev.  Aaron,  122,  125,  127,  133. 

By  Hinge,  Edward,  80. 

C. 

Cadmus,  Thomas,  57,  58,  164,  171. 

Caldwell,  Rev.  James,  19I,  193,  199, 
216,  217. 

Caldwell,  Church  at,  215-217  ;  When 
it  became  a  Township,  and  De- 
rivation of  its  Name,  217. 

Callahan,  Jacob,  207. 

Callahan,  Rachel,  207. 

Camfield,  Mary,  206. 

Camp,  Caleb,  164,  165,  277. 

Camp,  Isaac,  306. 

Camp,  Joseph,  141. 

Camp,  Nathaniel,  95,  251. 


Campbell,  Aaron,  152. 

Campbell,  Benjamin,  149,  152. 

Campbell,  Charity,  153. 

Campbell,  Henry  B.,  278. 

Campbell,  James,  141. 

Campbell,  John,  141,  149,   151,   153. 

Campbell,  Katharine,  151. 

Campbell,  Moses,  152. 

Campbell,  Rebecca,  153. 

Camptown,  87,  193. 

Canfield,  Benjamin,  184. 

Canfield,  Ebenezer,  18,  140,  149,  151. 

Canfield,  Joseph,  206,  319. 

Canfield,  Phebe,  206. 

Canfield,  Sarah,  151. 

Canoe  Building,  23. 

Canoe  Brook — Origin  of  its  Name, 
23  ;  Now  called  Northfield, 
219  ;  Church  at,  220,  221. 

Capital  Offences,  72. 

Carey,  John,  162. 

Carter  6.  S.,  22. 

Carteret,  Sir  George,  78,  80,  88,  89. 

Carteret,  Philip,  72,  88. 

Cattle,  when  first  imported,  37. 

Centre  Street,  52. 

Century  Day,  iSoi,  241. 

Chapman,  Blanche,  197. 

Chapman,  Rev.  Jedidiah,  137,  149  ; 
His  game  cock,  177  ;  His 
cheers  for  freedom,  177  ;  Re- 
ceives a  visit  from  Lafayette, 
178  ;  Prepares  a  device  for 
a  seal  for  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Orange,  180  ;  Chap- 
lain in  the  army,  184  ;  His  au- 
tograph, igi;  His  ordination  as 
pastor  of  the  Mountain  Society, 
192  ;  Salary  of,  195  ;  His  inter- 
est in  Princeton  College,  196, 
197;  His  lineage,  197;  His  mar- 
riage, 197  ;  Death  of  his  wife 
and  his  second  marriage,  198  ; 
Names  of  his  children,  198  ; 
Signal  stations  erected  by  him 
during  the  war,  199,  200  ;  An 
assault  upon  his  son  and  the 
result,  201  ;  His  call  to  mis- 
sion work  in  W^estern  New 
York,  202  ;  Resigns  his  charge 
in  Orange,  203  ;  His  death, 
204  ;  Notes  of  a  sermon  preach- 
ed by  him,  205  ;  Referred  to, 
216,  218  ;  His  labors  for  the 
Orange  Academy,  229,  230, 
232;  Referred  to,  235,  241,243, 
244,  256,  257,  262,   264,  299. 

Chapman,  John  Hobart,  198. 

Chapman,  Margaretta,  198,  210. 


Index. 


323 


Chapman,  Mary  Valeria,   210. 

Chapman,  Peter  LeConte,  19S. 

Chapman,  Robert,  197. 

Chapman,  Robert  Hett,  198. 

Chapman,  William  Smith,   198,   208. 

Chetwood,  John,  i6r. 

Christian  Path,  193. 

Church,  Rev.  Isaac  M.,  221. 

Church  at  the  Mountain.  See  Mew- 
ark  Mountain. 

Church,  (the  first  building),  106. 

Church,  (the  second  building),  136. 

Church,  (the  third  building),  269. 

Church  Bell  (the  first),  238,  239. 

Cider-making  in  Newark,  39. 

Clark,  Moses,  141. 

Clark,  Samuel,  141. 

Cleveland,  Grover,  ex-President,  217. 

Cleveland,  Rev.  Richard  F.,  217. 

Cleveland  Street,  315. 

Clisby,  Joseph,  278.    - 

Clopper,  CorneHus,  59. 

Coalman,  Mary,  207. 

Cochran,  Daniel,  319. 

Coining  Copper,  Recommended  by 
Gov.  Hunter,  54. 

Coins,  Drain  of,  66  ;  Pine  tree  shil- 
lings, 66 ;  Value  of  various 
pieces,  66,  67. 

Cokren,  John,  138. 

Colfax,  William,  320. 

Coleman,  David,  151. 

Collins,  Harriet,  299. 

Commens,  Philip,  188. 

Committee  of  Observation,  163,  164. 

Condit.     See  Cundit,  Cundict. 

Condit,  Abigail,  297. 

Condit,  Benjamin,  319. 

Condit,  Caleb,  208,  297. 

Condit,  Charlotte,   297. 

Condit,  Daniel,  140. 

Condit,  Daniel  D.,  230. 

Condit,  Edward,  238. 

Condit,  Ichabod,  275. 

Condit,  Isaac,  87,  140. 

Condit,  Jacob,  297. 

Condit,  John,  86,  87,  140,  229-231, 
240,  242,  253,  273,  275,  295- 
298. 

Condit,  John  S.,  297. 

Condit,  Capt.  Jonathan,  233. 

Condit,  Joseph,  273,  275,  296,  297. 

Condit,  Joseph  A.,  275. 

Condit,  Joseph  S.,  318. 

Condit,  Jotham,  319. 

Condit,  Mary,  295,  297. 

Condit,  Matthew,  229,  231,  240. 

Condit,  Moses,   153,  241. 

Condit,  Moses  Ward,  319. 


Condit,  Nathaniel,  87. 

Condit,  Peter,  87,  140. 

Condit,  Phebe,   299. 

Condit,  Philip,  87. 

Condit,  Rhoda,  297. 

.Condit,  Samuel,  87,  140,  143,  150, 
153,  20S,  223,  295,  297. 

Condit,  Silas,  245,297. 

Condit,  Silas  D.,  319. 

Condit,  Stephen,  275. 

Condit,  W.  Sayres,  319. 

Cone,  Joseph,  240. 

Cone  Street,  240,  313. 

Congress,  Continental,  measures 
adopted  for  instituting,  160. 
Delegates  to,  163.  Commit- 
tees of  Observation  recom- 
mended by,  163,  164.  Dec- 
laration of  Independence  by, 
167. 

Congress,  Provincial  Institution  of, 
166. 

Connecticut,  Charter  of,  obtained,  4. 

Conolly,  Benjamin,  210. 

Conolly,  James,  210. 

Coon,  Israel,  319. 

Cooper,  John,  250. 

Copper  Ore,  Discovery  of ,  54.  Mine 
Opened  and  Steam  Engine 
Set  Up,  55.  Mining  Epidem- 
ic, 56.  Mine  in  Orange,  58- 
62. 

Corey,  Ashbel  W. ,  260. 

Cornbury,  Governor,  67,  80,  90. 

Cortland,  Stephen,  138. 

Counterfeiting,  Penalty  of,  69, 

Cowman,  Johannes,  58,  59. 

Crane,  Aaron,  210,  299. 

Crane,  Abigail,  206,  209. 

Crane,  Amos,  208. 

Crane,  Azariah,  50,  86,  137,  138, 
188,273. 

Crane,  Caleb,  86,  140,  149,  151. 

Crane,  Charles,  152,  308. 

Crane,  Eleazer,  210. 

Crane,  Eliakim,  152,  206,  208. 

Crane.  Elihu,  140,  287. 

Crane,  Ehzabeth,  207,  209,  210. 

Crane,  Ezekiel,  140. 

Crane,  Garniel,  140. 

Crane,  Hannah,  207,  210. 

Crane,  James,  203. 

Crane,  Jasper,  3,  47,  86. 

Crane,  Jedidiah,  128,  140. 

Crane,  Jeptha,  210 

Crane,  Jeremiah,  208. 

Crane,  Job,  140,  206, 

Crane,  John,  151,  152,   253. 

Crane,  Jonas,  209. 


324 


History  of  the   Oranges. 


Crane,  Jonathan,  207,  208. 

Crane,  Joseph,  207,  210. 

Crane,  Josiah,  192,  208. 

Crane,  Lewis,  15,  140,  149,  152. 

Crane,  Lois,  153,  207. 

Crane,  Lydia,  209.  < 

Crane,  Martha,  151. 

Crane,  Mary,  207,  208,   210,  287. 

Crane,  Matthias,  207,  209. 

Crane,  Nancy,  210,  299. 

Crane,   Nathaniel,   86,  95,    137,  140, 
151,  210. 

Crane,  Nehemiah,  153,  208. 

Crane,  Noah,  137,  140,  149,  151,  153, 
208. 

Crane,  Phineas,  265. 

Crane,  Rachel,  207. 

Crane,  Rhoda,  206. 

Crane,  Samuel,  185,  207,  208,  210. 

Crane,  Sarah,  206,  209. 

Crane,  Stephen,  140,  149,    151,   153, 
161,  163,  206,  209,  265. 

Crane,  Stephen  Bradford,  209. 

Crane,  Thomas,  210. 

Crane,  Timothy,  206. 

Crane,  Uzal,  208. 

Crane,  William,    138,  140,   143,  144, 
149,  153,  208,  319. 

Crane,  Zadoc,  153. 

Crane,  Zenas,  208. 

Cranetown,  50,  51,  176,  193. 

Crow,   Mr.,  230. 

Crowel,  Daniel,   209. 

Crowel,  David.  151. 

Crowel,  Henry  Earl,  210. 

Crowel,  Joseph,  140,  149,  151. 

Crowel,  Katharine,  153. 

Crowel,  Prudence,  209. 

Crowel,  Samuel,  140,  20S,  210. 

Crowel,  Thankful,  208. 

Crowell,  Recompence,  149,  153. 

Cuming,  John  N.,  234. 

Cundict,  Amos,   152. 
Cuudict,  Daniel,  150,   152,  164,  185. 
Cundict,  David,  150,  152,  164. 
Cundict,  Isaac,  146.  , 
Cundict,  Jemima,  diary  of,    38  ;    Au- 
tograph   of,     182  ;      Extracts 
from  her  diary,   182-185,  285, 
288  ;    Biographical    sketch  of, 
185,  186  ;  Monument  to,  187  ; 
Referred  to,  195,  218,  219. 
Cundict,  Joanna,  150,  152. 
Cundict,  John,  86,  95,  96,   242,  247. 
Cundict,  Lydia,  152. 
Cundict,  Martha,  152. 
Cundict,  Mary,  151. 
Cundict,  Ruth,  185. 
Cundict,  Samuel,  129,  136,  137,  185. 


Cundit,  Eunice,  208. 
Cundit,  Moses,  153. 
Cundit,  Naomi,  208. 
Cundit,  Samuel,  140,  150,  153. 
Currency,  65,  69. 
Curtis,  John,  249. 

D. 
Darby,  Rev.,  216. 
Davenport,  Rev.  John,  4,  5. 
Daves,  John,  138. 
Davie,  Humphrey,  104. 
Davies,  Cornelius,  152. 
Davies,  Rev.  Samuel,  127. 
Davies,   Timothy,  150,  152, 
Davis,  Caleb,  141. 
Davis,  Jane,  207. 
Davis,  Jonathan,  141. 
Davis,  Silvanus,  208. 
Davis,  Solomon,  164. 
Davis,  Timothy,  207,  208. 
Day,  Charles  Rodney,  315. 
Day,  Comfort,  315. 
Day,  David,  50,  315,  320. 
Day,  Eliza,  315. 
Day,  Elizabeth,  315. 
Day,  George,  84,  313,  315. 
Day,  Jonathan,  315. 
Da),  Joseph,  141,  315. 
Day,  Mary,  315. 
Day,  Robert  Patten,  315. 
Day,  Sarah,  315. 
Day,  Stephen  D.,  230,  246,  247,  265, 

269,  270,  313,  320. 
Day,  Thomas,  188. 
Day  Street,  314. 
Dean,  Alexander,  245. 
Dean,  John,  245,  278. 
Dean,  Peter,  248. 
Deancey,  Dr.  John,  289. 
Debt,  imprisonment  for,  74. 

De  Hart,  John,  159,  161,  163. 

Deleplary,  or  De  La  Prairie,  (the 
name  by  which  Robert  Vau- 
quellin,  Surveyor-General  of 
New  Jersey,  was  sometimes 
designated,)  249. 

Dennis,  John,  162. 

Denton,  Richard,  5. 

Devoe,  John,  141. 

Devoe,  Richard,  141. 

Dickerson,  Mahlon,  299. 

Dickinson,  Hannah,  146. 

Dickinson,  Rev.  Jonathan,  118,  119, 
121,   122,  286,  287,  289. 

Dickinson,  Martha,  122. 

Dickinson,  Mary,    141,  287. 

Disease  and  Pestilence,  282-289. 

Distilleries,  64,  65. 


Index. 


;25 


Dod.     See  Dodd. 

Dod,  Aaron,  209. 

Dod,  Abigail,  152. 

Dod,  Abijah,  151. 

Dod,  Abner,  209. 

Dod,  Daniel,  136,  141,  250,  294. 

Dod,  David,  209. 

Uod,  Eleazer,  T51. 

Dod,  Elizabeth,  208. 

Dod,  Enos,  151. 

Dod,  Isaac,  141,  150-153,   207,  208. 

Dod,  Jairus,  20S. 

Dod,  Jeptha,  207. 

Dod,  Joanna,   153. 

Dod,   John,    58-60,    137,    139.    I4i. 

150,   152,  209,  214,  244. 
Dod,  Joseph,  170,  209. 
Dod,  Linus,  209.J 
Dod,  Martha,  294. 
Dod,  Matthias,  170. 
Dod,  Moses,   206. 
Dod,  Nathaniel,  141,  265. 
Dod.  Phebe,  209. 
Dod,  Robert,   209. 
Dod,  Samuel,  56,  141,  20S,  209,  214, 

250,  294. 
Dod,  Sarah,  151,  290. 
Dod,  Silas,  141,  265. 
Dod,  Stephen,  137,  141.  i43- 
Dod,  Thomas,  150,    151. 
Dod,  Uzal,   152. 
Dodd,  Allen,  248,  281. 
Dodd,  Calvin,  41,  58,  59,  60. 
Dodd,  Eleazer,  248. 
Dodd,  Linus,   223. 
Dodd,  Matthias,  180,  181,  276. 
Dodd,  Moses,  270,  271. 
Dodd,  Rachael,  276. 
Dodd,  Rev.  Stephen,  218. 
Doe,  John,  293. 
Dogs,  tax  on,  44. 

Dollar,  derivation  of  the  name,  67. 
Dongan,  Governor,  loi. 
Drunkenness,  law  concerning,  74. 
Drure.  John,  141. 
Dugdale.  148. 
Dunham,  Obed,  219. 
Durand,  Asher  B. ,  180. 
Durand,  John,  179,  180. 
Druse,  John,  141. 

Dyes,  used  for   domestic  fabrics,  42. 
Dysentery  in  New  Jersey,  147. 


Eagles,  Alexander,  27S. 
Earle,  John.  164. 
Eaton,  John,  198. 
Eaton,  Valeria,  198. 
Edwards,  John,  308. 


Edwards,  Rev.  Jonathan,  118,  127, 
291. 

Edwards,  Morgan,  219. 

Edwards,  Moses,  219-221. 

Elizabeth  River,  its  sourse,  12,  16. 

EHzabethtown  Purchase,  38. 

Elliott,  Rev.  Augustine,  221. 

Essex  County,  formation  of,  32  ;  In 
the  War  of  the  Revolution, 
158,  167  ;  Raids  of  British 
troops  into  various  parts  of, 
168. 

F. 
Farran,  Joseph,  141. 
Farran,  Samuel,  141. 
Farrand,  Ebenezer,  136,  138. 
Farrand,  Moses,  164,  171,  172. 
Fenwick;  John,  80. 
Finlay,  Samuel,  291. 
First  Meeting  House,  106. 
First  River,  its  source,  11. 
First  School  House,  77. 
First  Settler,  83. 
Flora    and    Fauna    of    the    Newark 

Mountain,  16. 
Foote,  Major  Isaac,  146. 
Foote,  Rebecca,  146. 
Force,  Hiram  Q.,  319. 
Franklin,  Benjamin,  194. 
Freeman,  Abel,  141. 
Freeman,  Benjamin,  141,  150,  152. 
Freeman,  Desire,  207. 
Freeman,  Elijah,  208. 
Freeman,  Hannah,  153. 
Freeman,  Isaac,  233. 
Freeman,  Jabez,  184,  278. 
Freeman,  Jane,  209. 
Freeman,  Jared,  184. 
Freeman,  Jedidiah,  141,  152,  210, 
Freeman,  John,  150,  152,  184,  207- 

209. 
Freeman,  Joseph,  206,  207. 
Freeman,  Moses,  151. 
Freeman,  Phebe,  207. 
Freeman,  Rachel,  207. 
Freeman,  Samuel,  102,  129,  137,  138, 

141,  143,   152,   185,  192,  207. 
Freeman,   Thomas,    141,    150,    152, 

153- 
Freeman,    Timothy,    136,   141,    150, 

151. 

Freeman,  Zenas,  152. 

Frelinghuysen,  Theodore,  260. 

Frost,  Josiah,  239. 

Fundamental  AgreenTent  adopted  by 
first  settlers  of  Newark,  6  ; 
Subscription  to,  not  long  in- 
sisted upon, 33-35. 


326 


History  of  the  Oranges. 


G. 

Gage,  General,  158. 

Gallahan,  Cyrus,  210. 

Gallahan,  Jacob,  210. 

Gallahan,  Nancy,  210. 

Gallahan,  Phebe,  210. 

Gallahan,  Rachel,  210. 

Gallahan,  Thomas,  210. 

Gardner,  David,  207. 

Gardner,  John,  141. 

Gardner,  Sibel,  207. 

Gardner,  Thomas,  129,  242. 

Garner,  David,  141. 

Garrabrant,  Garrabrant,  164. 

Garritoe,  Henry,  161. 

General  Assembly,  the  first,  and  how 

composed,  72  ;  The  first  under 

the  Crown,  81  ;  Dissatisfaction 

of  the  people  with,  91. 
General  Congress.     See  Congress. 
Gibbon,  Grant,  162. 
Gildersleeve,  John,  141,  207. 
Gillam,  Isaac,  308. 
Glebe,  (The)  242-246. 
Goden, John,  141. 
Gould,  John,  141,  150,  153. 
Gould,  Sarah,  153. 
Gould,  Thomas,  141. 
Grammar  School,  The,  131. 
Grant,  Nathaniel,  209. 
Grant,  Thomas,  209. 
Grants,    Concessions,    etc.,    of    the 

Lords  Proprietors,  78-80, 
Graveyard.        See  Old  Grave    Yard, 

also  St.  Mark's   Grave    Yard. 
Gray,  Elizabeth,  207. 
Gray,  John,  207. 
Gray,  William,    128,   134,   139,    141, 

150,  207,  245. 
Green,  Rev.    Jacob,  183,    194,  199, 

216,  217. 
Griffin,  Rev.  Edward  Dorr,  222,  224, 

241. 
Griffin,  Frances  Louisa,  241. 
Grist  Mills,  272,  273. 
Griswold,  Margaret,  102. 
Grover,  Rev.  Stephen,  217. 
Guilford,  5,  31. 
Gummerson,  John,  319, 

H. 

Half-way  Covenant,  5. 
Hall,  Mary,  150. 
Halsey,  Abigail,  297. 
Halsey,  Joseph,  297. 
Halsey,  Rhoda,  297. 
Halsey,  William,  234. 
Halstead,  Matthias  O.,  241. 
Hand,  William,  141,  150,  151. 


Hardenburg,  John  A.,   296. 

Harris,  Mr.  230. 

Harrison,  Aaron,   38,    85,   151,    179, 

186,  187,  201,   233,    269,  294. 
Harrison,  Abialhar,  83. 
Harrison,  Abijah,  25,  151,  294. 
Harrison,  Abraham,  286. 
flarrison,   Adonijah,    152,  288,   294. 
Harrison,  Amos,  19,  38,  83,  85,  141, 

150,  151,   153,   201,  209,  223, 

233,  234,  294. 
Harrison,  Comfort,  152. 
Harrison,  Daniel,  85,  86. 
Harrison,  David,  150,   153,  208. 
Harrison,  Elizabeth,  208. 
Harrison,  Esther,  208. 
Harrison,  Eunice  (Unis)  209. 
Harrison,  George,  85,  86,  138. 
Harrison,  Hannah,  206,  208,  209. 
Harrison,  Ichabod,  164. 
Harrison,  Ira,  14,  25,  38,  186. 
Harrison,  Isaac,  139,  206,  209. 
Harrison,  Jared,  206,  208,  269,  270. 
Harrison,  Jemima,  151,  187. 
Harrison,  Joanna,  150. 
Harrison,  John,  141,  152,  188. 
Harrison,   Joseph,   85,    86,  109,  130, 

141.  143- 
Harrison,  Jotham,  86,  170,  241. 
Harrison,  Martha,  294. 
Harrison,  Mary,  87,   151,    208,    209. 
Harrison,    Matthew,    85,    141,    150- 

152,  294. 
Harrison,  Moses  S.,  248. 
Harrison,  Nathaniel,   136,    138,   14T. 
Harrison,  Phebe,  207,  209. 
Harrison,  Reubin,  288. 
Harrison,  Richard,  85,  141,  208,  209. 
Harrison,  Ruth,  153. 
Harrison,  Samuel,  22,  40,  56,  65,  67, 

77.  85,  87,  95,  96,   127,   128, 

130,   136,  137,  141,  143-   150, 

179, 185-188,  289. 
Harrison,  Simeon,  86,  206,  209. 
Harrison,  Stephen,  86,  141,  150,  214, 

310. 
Harrison  Street,  52. 
Harrison,  Susannah,  153. 
Harrison,  Zenas,  208. 
Haskell,  LlewellvnS.,  52. 
Platfield,  Rev.  Dr.,  228. 
Hats,  the  manufacture  of,  62-64,  280. 
Hayes,  Samuel,   277. 
Hays,  Thomas,  141. 
Headden.      See  Hedden. 
Heady,  Allen,  185. 
Heady,  Sias,  184. 
Heady,  Zadock,  185. 
Heckscher,  Georgiana  L.,  47,  49. 


Index. 


327 


Hedden,  Comfort,  152. 

Hedden,  Ebenezer,  207. 

Hedden,   Eieazer,  150,  151. 

Hedden,  Elijah  R.,  318." 

Hedden,  Elizabeth,  151. 

Hedden,  Israel,  281. 

Hedden,  (Headden)  John,  150,  152, 
208. 

Hedden,  Joseph,  150,  151,  164,  272. 

Hedden,  (Headden)  Mary,  207,  209, 
210. 

Hedden,  Phebe,  151. 

Hedden  (Headden)  Rachel,  208. 

Hedden  Sylvanus,  286. 

Hedden,  Zadoc,  151,  210. 

Hessian  Troops,  ravages  of,  i6g, 
308. 

Highways.      See  Roads. 

Hillyer,  Abraham  Riker,  227. 

Hiilyer,  Rev.  Asa,  106,  137,  178, 
201  ;  His  settlement  at  Bot- 
tle Hill,  222  ;  A  manager  of 
Princeton  Theological  Semi- 
nary, 225  ;  Made  a  Doctor  of 
Divinity,  225  ;  An  account  of 
his  father,  226  ;  His  early  edu- 
cation, marriage  and  names  of 
his  children,  227  ;  Referred 
to,  230,  244-246,  301  ;  Called 
to  Orange  Dale,  262  ;  Pro- 
poses the  erection  of  a  new 
church  building,  269  ;  The 
success  of  his  effort,  270-272  ; 
In  the  new  church  edifice, 
271. 

Hillyer,  Edward  Dickson,  227. 

Hillyer,  Edward  Truman,    201,  227. 

Hillyer,  Jane  Elizabeth,  227. 

Hillyer,  Margaret    Riker,  227,    301. 

Hillyer,  Tace  Bradford,  227. 

Hooker,  Rev.  Samuel,    I02. 

Hornblower,  James,  175. 

Hornblower,  Josiah,  229,  230. 

Horseneck,  193  ;  the  people  at,  215  ; 
Presbyterian  Church  of,  216. 

Horses,  when  first  imported,  37. 

Hosack,  Dr.  David,  299,  301. 

Hoyt,  Rev.  James,  103,  106,  iii, 
216,  246,  269. 

Hunt,  Abraham,  162. 

Huntington,  Samuel,  250. 

I. 
Indians — Price  paid  to  them  for  the 
lands  covered  by  Newark  town- 
ship, 1,2;  Hackensacks,  num- 
ber of  in  the  Province,  22  ; 
Oraton,  King  of  the  Hacken- 
sacks,  22  ;    Perro,   proprietor 


of  the  Passaic  lands,  22  ;  Ca- 
noe building  among,  23  ;  Bas- 
ket making  among,  24  ;  Relics 
of,  24  ;  Wampum,  article  of  ex- 
change among,  24,  25  ;  Barns 
of,  25  ;  Character  and  man- 
ners of  in  West  Jersey,  26  ; 
Religion  of,  26-29  I  Paths  oi, 
29,  30  ;  Minisinks,  29  ;  Pur- 
chase from,  of  the  Elizabeth- 
town  territory,  88  ;  Purchase 
of  land  from,  known  as  the 
Horseneck  purchase,  92. 

J- 
Jackson,  Rev.  Abel,  218. 
James  (jeams),  Thomas,   141. 
Jails,  broken  open  by  the  anti-renters 

92. 
Jearas.     See  James. 
Jenner,  Dr.  (Edward),  302. 
Jessup,  Fanny,  299. 
John,  Samuel,  188. 
Johnson,  Amos,  47,  50. 
Johnson,  David,  277. 
Johnson,  Eliphalet,  95,  96,  141. 
Johnson,  Esq,  141. 
Johnson,  Ezekiel,  148. 
Johnson,  John,  47,  50,  277. 
Johnson,  Joseph,  141. 
Johnson,  Robert,  164. 
Jones,  Cornelius,  206,  209. 
Jones,  Cyrus,  169,  280,  281. 
Jones,  Hannah,  206,  208, 
Jones,  James,  206. 
Jones,  Joanna,  206. 
Jones,  John,  207,  208,  293. 
Jones,  Joseph,  138. 
Jones,  Martha,  209. 
Jones,  Mary,  209. 
Jones,  Matthias,  209. 

ones,  Moses,  18. 

ones,  Nancy,  2og. 

ones,  Naomi,  209. 
Jones,  Phebe,  207. 
Jones,  Rachel,  208. 
Jones,  Rev.   Mr.,  217, 
Jones,  Samuel,  141,  209. 
Jones,  Viner  Van  Zant,  281. 
Joralemon,  Henry,  308. 
Joralemon,  Nicholas,  175. 
Jury,  trial  by,  75. 


K. 


Kilbourne,  Gershom,  141. 
Kingsland,  Henry,  174. 
Kingsley,  George  P.,  260. 
Kingsley,  Philip,  260, 
Kinsey,  James,  163. 


328 


History  of  the   Oranges. 


Kirtland,  Hester,  igy. 
Kirtland,  John,  197. 

L. 

Lafayette,  Marquis  de,  173  ;  In 
Cranetown,  176  ;  Spends  a 
day  with  Rev.  Mr.  Chapman, 
178. 

I.amson,  Daniel,  96,  141. 

Lamson,  Eleazer,  119,137,  139,  141. 

Lamson,  Thomas,  138,  141. 

Lands,  division  ot,  79,  82,  97;  Annual 
rents,  79. 

Land  tenures,  78-87. 

Laws,  under  the  Proprietors,  72  ; 
Various  crimes  and  punish- 
ments, 73-75  ;  Concerning 
marriages,  73  ;  Concerning 
drunkenness,  74  ;  Concerning 
ordinaries  &  retailing  liquors, 
74  ;  Imprisonment  for  debt, 
74  ;  Trial  by  jury,  75  ;  Defi- 
ance of  by  the  anti-renters,  92. 

Leather  and  Tanneries,  273-275. 

LeConte,  Margaretla,  198. 

LeConte,  Dr.  Peter,  198. 

Legislation  and  the  laws,  72-75. 

Lindsley,  Amos,  142. 

Lindsley,  Benjamin,  142. 

Lindsley,  Charlotte,  iii. 

Lindsley,  Ebenezer,  142,  207. 

Lindsley,  Mrs.  Jeptha  B.^  48. 

Lindsley,  John,  233,   234,  257,  258, 

271'-  315- 

Lindsley,  Rev.  John,  203. 

Lindsley,  John  Morris,  iii,  230,  231, 
260,  313,  314. 

Lindsley,  Josiah,  142. 

Lindsley,  Mary,  315. 

Lindsley,  Romana  A.,  260. 

Lindsley    Sarah    315. 

Lindsley,  Shaler,  278. 

Lins  (Lyon),  David,  184. 

Liquors,  law  concerning  the  retailing 
of,  74. 

Livingston,  Rev.  Dr.  John  H.,  227. 

Livingston,  William    161,  163. 

Loan  Commissioners,  69. 

Locey,  Ichabod,  248. 

Longworth,  Isaac,  165. 

Lords  Proprietors,  who  they  were, 
and  their  grants,  concessions, 
etc. ,  78-80  ;  Surrender  the 
(Government  to  the  Crown,  81  ; 
Dissensions  between,  and  the 
planters  ,81;  Controversy  with , 
87-91,  123;  Surrender  the 
proprietary  Government  to  the 
Crown      90  ;    Harsh  proceed- 


ings of  against  the  planters,  92; 

Vindication  of  the  purchasers 

against,  94. 
Lotteries,  126. 

Lower  Parsonage  The,  248-260. 
Lucas,  Frind,  59,  138. 
Lyon,  Abraham,  164. 
Lyon,  Elizabeth,  315. 
Lyon,  Joseph, 164. 
Lyons  (Lins),  David,  184. 
Lyons  Farms,  Baptist  Meeting-house 

at,  219. 

M. 

Maclean,  John,  300. 

Macwhorter,  Rev.  Alexander,  98, 
ICO,  190,  193  199,  217,  222, 
241,  25 t.  _ 

Makemie,  Francis,  98. 

McEndow,  John,  153. 

McEndow,  Robert,  153. 

Mcllvaine,  Bishop  Charles,  300. 

JNIcNichols,  Captain,  175. 

Maltby,  Mr.,  128. 

Marriages,  law  concerning,  73, 

Martin,  EHzabeth,  208. 

Martin,  Jeremiah,  142,  150,  151, 
153.  208. 

Martin,  Lydia,  153. 

Martin,  Thomas,  151. 

Mason,  Rev.  John  M.,  272. 

Mather,  Cotton,  8,  282,  284. 

Matthews,  Daniel,  248. 

Meadow  Brook,  its  source,  12. 

Meeker,  Obadiah,  278. 

Meeting-House  Lot  (the),  246. 

Meeting-House  (the  first),  106. 

Meeting-House  (the  second),  139. 

Meeting-House  (the  third),  269. 

Military  Affairs  ;  Raising  money  for 
protection  of  American  rights, 
166  ;  Enlisting  and  enrolling 
men  for  defence  of  the  Col- 
onies, 166. 

Mill  Brook.     See  First  River. 

Mines,  Copper,  on  the  Passaic,  54  ; 
Common  land  let  out  to  dig 
for,  56  ;  In  Orange  and  Bloom- 
field,  57^58. 

Mining  Epidemic,  56-58. 

Minisink  Indians,  29. 

Minisink  Path,  29. 

Mitchell,  John,  319. 

Money,  various  kinds  of,  65-69.  See 
also  Paper  Money. 

Monmouth  County,  when  erected,  32. 

Morris,  Isabella,  277, 

Morris,  Lewis,  Governor  of  New 
Jersey,  91,  92,  277. 


Index. 


329 


Morris,  Robert,  277. 
Morris,  Stephen,  95,  140,  142,  184. 
Mount  Pleasant  Turnpike,  266-268. 
Mountain    Society.  See    A'eicark 

jMotintain. 
Mun,  Aaron,  223,  234,  257,  258. 
Mun,  Abigail,  152,  207. 
Mun,  Benjamin,    150-152,  208,   2S0. 
Mun,  Bethuel,  151. 
Mun,  Elizabeth,  208. 
Mun,  Isaac,  209,  210,  233. 
Mun,  Joanna,  cog. 
Mun,  John,  142,  151,  210,  276. 
Mun,  Joseph,  142,  150-152,  209,  24S. 
Mun,  Lidia,  208. 
Mun,  Phebe,  206. 
Mun,  Rachel,  208. 
Mun,  Ruth,  210. 
Mun  (Munn),  Samuel,  248,  263,  266, 

308. 
Mun,  Sarah,  152,  207. 
Mun,  Stephen,  210,  276. 

N. 

Nailer's  Brook  :  Origin  of  name,  40. 

Neil,  Jr.  Robert,  164,  277. 

Neilson,  James,  162. 

Nevius,  Judge,  300. 

Newark,  called  "  The  Towne  at  the 
River  ;"  How  it  was  laid  out,  2  ; 
Migrations  to  from  .Milford, 
New  Haven  and  Guilford,  5  ; 
Fundamental  agreement  adop- 
ted by  first  settlers  of,  6  ;  Al- 
lotments of  lands  to  early  set- 
tlers, 31  ;  Live  stock  of  early 
settlers,  31,  32  ;  First  meeting- 
house, 32  ;  Number  of  families 
in  16S2,  32  ;  Subscription  to 
fundamental  agreement,  33, 
34  ;  Intercourse  with  New 
York,  34  ;  Growth  of,  97  ;  The 
second  meeting-house  at,  106, 
107  ;  Episcopal  Church  and 
two  Presbyterian  Societies  in, 

259- 
Newark  Mountain  :  called  Watchung 
Mountain,  2  ;  Topography  of, 
9-1 1  ;  Water  sheds,  11-13  ; 
Swamps,  13-16 ;  Flora  and 
Fauna  of,  16-22  ;  What  re- 
gion was  comprised  under  the 
name  of,  33  ;  Names  of  some  of 
the  fathers  of,  35  ;  Plantations 
of,  35-38  ;  Apple  orchards  of, 
38  ;  First  farm  wagon  at,  38  ; 
Home  life  of  the  early  settlers 
of,  41-44  ;  Early  roads,  45-53  ; 
Early  local  industries,  54-65  ; 


School-house  built  at,  77  ;  Dis- 
sensions between  the  people  of 
and  the  Lords  Proprietors,  Si  ; 
Names  of  the  early  dwellers 
of,  82,  83  ;  First  house  built 
on,  83  ;  Rights  of  the  Asso- 
ciates defended,  95  ;  The 
church  at,  known  as  the 
"  Mountain  Society,"  98-1 1 1  ; 
It  becomes  Presbyterian,  118- 
120;  Its  book  of  records,  119, 
120  ;  Parish  rates,  12S,  129  ; 
The  glebe,  129.  130;  The  par- 
sonage, 135-13'^  ;  The  second 
meeting-house  at,  139-143  ; 
Members  in  communion  of  the 
Mountain  Society,  149,  150, 
206,  207  ;  Baptisms,  151-153, 
207-210;  Corporate  seal  of, 
180 ;  Ordination  and  installa- 
tion of  Rev.  Jedidiah  Ciiap- 
man  of  the  Mountain  Society, 
192  ;  Elders  and  deacons  cho- 
sen, 192  ;  Names  and  liomes 
of  the  principal  families  be- 
longing to  the  Mountain  So- 
ciety, 193 ;  Record  of  the 
Mountain  Society  during  the 
pastorate  of  Mr.  Chapman, 
206-210 ;  Act  of  incorpora- 
tion asked  for  and  granted, 
with  names  of  trustees,  213, 
214  ;  The  parish  sloop,  232  ; 
The  Orange  dock,  234  ;  The 
parish  nailery,  234 ;  The  old 
graveyard,  235  ;  Records  of 
the  Mountain  Society,  235  ; 
The  first  church  bell,  238  ; 
Parish  lands,  242  ;  Lower  Par- 
sonage, 242,  248-261  ;  The 
glebe,  242-246  ;  The  meeting 
house  lot,  246,  247  ;  The  John 
Cundict  lot,  247  ;  The  parson- 
age house  lot,  247  ;  Mountain 
Society  incorpoiated  as  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Newark,  261  ;  Afterwards 
as  First  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Orange,  269  ;  Third  meet- 
ing-house, 269  ;  Timber,  275, 
276  ;  First  physicians  at  New- 
ark Mountains,  289,  290  ; 
Chief  builders  of  the  Moun- 
tain Society,  305. 
Newark  Township  :  When  founded, 
and  bounds  of  the  first  pur- 
chase, I,  10;  Price  paid  for 
the  lands,  i  ;  Second  purchase, 
and   price  paid,  2  ;   Number, 


330 


History  of  the  Oranges. 


character  and  former  homes  of 
the  first  settlers  of,  2,  3  ;  Pat- 
ent or  charter  of,  10  ;  Water 
sheds  of,  11-13  ;  Prices  of 
produce  in,  for  the  first  twenty 
years,  70  ;  Traffic,  taxes  and 
quit-rents,  70  ;  Schools  and 
school-houses,  75-77  ;  Petition 
of  the  inhabitants  of,  in  re- 
gard to  their  grievances,  93  ; 
Appointment  of  a  committee  of 
observation,  163,  164  ;  Meet- 
ing of  the  inhabitants  of,  in  re- 
lation to  the  rights  and  liber- 
ties of  America,  164,  165  ; 
Ravages  of  British  troops  in, 
169. 

New  Haven  Colony  :  Character  of 
the  people  of,  3  ;  Dissensions 
between  it  and  Connecticut 
Colony,  4-6  ;  Migrations  from, 
to  Newark,  5. 

New  York  :  Population  of,  about  the 
year  i6g8,  34;  Small  pox  in,  34. 

Nichols,  Col.  Richard,  Governor  of 
New  York,  87,  88. 

Nishuyne  River  :   Its  source,  15. 

Northfield  :  Baptist  Church  at,  218  ; 
Original  name,  2iq  ;  Change 
of  name,  221. 

Nutman,  Abigail,  100. 

Nutman,  Isaac,  292. 

Nutman,  James, 47,  50,  100,  142,  253. 

Nutman,  Mary,  100. 

Nutman,  Phebe,  292. 

O. 
Ogden,  Abraham,  142. 
Ogden,  Eunice,  150,  2o3. 
Ogden,  Isaac,  159,  161,  165,  306. 
Ogden,  John,  262,  286. 
Ogden,  Lewis,  165. 
Ogden,  Mary,  286. 
Ogden,  Nathaniel,'  142,  150,  208. 
Ogden,  Phebe,  208. 
Ogden,  Sarah,  286. 
Ogden,  Simeon,  238. 
Ogden,  Swain,  286. 
Ogden,  Thomas,  142. 
Ogden,  Mr.,  312. 
Old  Grave  Yard  (the),  235-238. 
Olef  (Oliff,    Oliv,    Olieve),  Anthony, 

47,  49,  50,  83  ;  Grave  of,  236, 

237- 
Orange  Academy,    its  establishment 

and  first  trustees,  229. 
Orange,  copper  mine  in,  58-62. 
Orange  Dale,  261-264. 
Orange  Dock,  234. 


Orange  Mountain.  See  Newark 
Motintain. 

Orange,  the  name  of,  261-264. 

Orange,  township  of,  265,  266. 

Oranges  (the)  2  ;  Enthusiasm  of  the 
people  of  in  defence  of  the 
public  Hberties,  164  ;  East, 
west  and  south,  264. 

Oraton,  King  of  the  Hackensack  In- 
dians, 22. 

Orchards  (apple),  38. 

Ordinaries,  74. 

Osborne,  Henry,  223. 

Osborn,  Moses,  142. 

Osborn,  Timothy,  142. 

P. 

Paper  Money,  first  issue  of  New  Jer- 
sey, 68  ;  Counterfeiting  of, 
69. 

Parcel,  Remington,  308. 

Parish  Lands,  242. 

Parish  Nailery,  234. 

Parish  Sloop  (the),  232,  234. 

Park  Street,  51. 

Parkhurst,  Caleb,  278. 

Parrow  Brook,  its  source,  and  the 
origin  of  its  name,  16. 

Parsons, ,  142. 

Parsonage      (the).  See     Newark 

Mountain. 

Parsonage  (Lower).  See  Lower  Par- 
sonage. 

Parsonage  Lot  (the),  247. 

Parsonate,  George,  150,  153. 

Parsonate,  John,  153. 

Parsonate,  Nathaniel,  153. 

Parsonate.     See  Fersotiette. 

Parsonette,  Lydia,  207. 

Path,  Christian,  193. 

Paths,  Indian,  29,  30. 

Peck,  David,  142,  265. 

Peck,  Elizabeth,  208. 

Peck,  Jared,  207. 

Peck,  Jemima,  152. 

Peck,  Jesse,  142,  150,  152. 

Peck,  John,  150,  152,  153,  164,  ^07, 
208,  3IC,  312. 

Peck,  Joseph,  123,  124,  137,  142, 
152.  192,  312. 

Peck,  Moses,  152. 

Peck,  Stephen,  153. 

Peck,  William,  260. 

Pennmgton,  Samuel,  164. 

Perro  ;  Indian  proprietor  of  the  Pas- 
saic lands,  16,  22  ;  A  brook 
named  after,  24. 

Perry.^Arthur,  67,  142,  150-152,  207, 
'208. 


Index. 


331 


Perry,  Benjamin,  286. 

Perry,  Ephraim,  278. 

Perry,  Ephraim  B.,  248. 

Perry,  Jane,  152,  207. 

Perry,  Jolin,  223. 

Perry,  Phebe,  20S. 

Personette,  George,  142,  207. 

Personette.     See  Parsoiiate. 

Physician  (First),  at  Newark  Moun- 
tains, 2S9,  2go. 

Pierson,  Aaron,  299,  318. 

Pierson,  Rev.  Abraham,  2,  5,  7,  8, 
34,  248,  290,  300,  305. 

Pierson,  Rev.  Albert,  275,  299-301. 

Pierson,  Bsthuei,  38,  138,  140,  142, 
150-152,  164,  165,  192,  229, 
230,  239,  253,  266,   305,   306, 

313- 
Pierson,  Caleb,  319. 
Pier'?on,  Cyrus,  151,  306. 
Pierson,  Daniel,  253,  319. 
Pierson,  David,  208. 
Pierson,  Edward,  299. 
Pierson,  Edward  Dixon,  301. 
Pierson,  Elihu,  150,  153,  208. 
Pierson,  Elijah  C,  318. 
Pierson,  Eliza,  315. 
Pierson,  Elizabeth,  306. 
Pierson,  Enos,  153. 
Pierson,  Erastus,  210. 
Pierson,  Fanny,  299. 
Pierson,  Rev.  George,  299,  315. 
Pierson,  Hannah,  153. 
Pierson,  Harriett,  299. 
Pierson,  Henry,  319. 
Pierson,  Ira,  318. 
Pierson,  Dr.   Isaac,     208,    223,   245, 

246,  257,  271,  298-300. 
Pierson,  Jabez,  233    278. 
Pierson,  James,  305. 
Pierson,  John,  142. 
Pierson,  Joseph,  136,  142,  152,   223, 

305- 

Pierson,  Josiah,  308. 

Pierson,  Jotham,  319. 

Pierson,  Lewis,  319. 

Piej-son,  Margaret,  301. 

Pierson,  Mary,  209,  306. 

Pierson,  Matthias,  132,135, 146,  164, 
169,  206,  20S,  209,  213,  229, 
242,  281,   290-294,  298,   300, 

311- 
Pierson,  Nancy,  208,  299. 
Pierson,  Phebe,  206.  208,  209,   292, 

299. 
Pierson,  Rhoda,  210,  306. 
Pierson,  Samuel,  96,   102,   130,   142. 

150,  152,  153,  290,   29T,   300, 

305. 


Pierson,  Sarah,  152,  208,  299. 

Pierson,  Theophilus,  249. 

Pierson,  Thomas,  8,   142,   290,  300, 

305- 
Pierson,  William,  149,  281,  294,  299- 

304  • 

Pigot,  Dr.,  289. 

Pine  Tree  Shillings,  66. 

Plume,  John  I.,  234. 

Porter,  Daniel,  278,  318. 

Post,  Ralph,  308. 

Proclamation  Money  ;  What  it  was, 
67. 

Produce ;  Prices  of  fixed  by  author- 
ity, 70. 

Products  of  New  Jersey,  65. 

Proprietors,  80-82,  86-96,  119,123. 
Sec  also  Lords  Pj-oprietors. 

Provincial  Congress.  See  Congress 
Provincial. 

Prudden,  Rev.  John,  100,  loi. 

Prudden,  Rev.  Peter,  loi. 


Quimby,  Caleb,  209,  318. 
Quimby,  John,  20S. 
Quimby,  Joseph,  208. 
Quimby,  Josiah,  206,  208,  233. 
Quimby,  Jotham,  209. 
Quimby,  Lois,  209. 
Quimby,  Mary,  206,  209. 
Quimby,  Moses,  206,  209. 
Quit-Rents;    How   paid,    70;    Suits 
for  the  recovery  of,  92. 


Rahway  River;  Its  source,  12. 

Ramage,  Thomas  A.,  248. 

Ramsay,  David,  291. 

Randolph,  Slille  T.,  221. 

Range,  John,  164,  213,  214. 

Rattlesnake  Plain,  21. 

Reed,  Josiah  H.,  170. 

Refugees.      See  Tories. 

Reock,  James,  240. 

Revolution,  American;  Its  outbreak, 
166,  167 ;  Raids  of  British 
troops  into  various  parts  of 
Essex  county,  16S  ;  Ravages 
of  the  Hessian  soldiers  and 
their  wives,  aided  by  the  tories, 
169,  170;  Incidents  of,  171  ; 
Demoralizing  effects  of  the 
Seven  Years'  War  of ,  212,  213. 

Richards,  Phebe,  145. 

Riggs,  Daniel,  142,  207. 

Riggs,  Elias,  210. 

Riggs,  Elizabeth,  306. 

Riggs,  Experience,  152. 


332 


History  of  the   Oranges. 


Riggs,  Joseph,  46,  48,  49,  123,  139, 
142,  143,  147,  148,  150  152, 
161,  192,  213,  290. 

Riggs,  Permenas,  210. 

Riggs,  Rhoda,  207. 

Riggs,  Simeon,  142, 

Riker,  Capt.  Abraham,  227. 

Riker,  Jane,  227. 

Roads,  Early,  45-53  ;  Surveyors,  45, 
46  ;   Working  upon,  52. 

Roberts,  Sayers,  265. 

Roe,  Rev.  Azel,  148,  150. 

Ropes,  David  N.,  57. 

Runyon,  Rev.  Reune,  218,  219. 

Rush,  Jacob,  291. 


Sacket,  Joseph,  283. 

Saint  Marks'  graveyard,  238. 

Sargent   (Sergeant),   Jonathan,    137, 

142. 
Saw-mills,  22,  39,  40. 
Sayer,  Jonathan,  164,  181. 
Schools    and    School-houses,    75-77, 

131-134- 

Scot,  George,  79. 

Scotland  lane  ;   When  opened,  52. 

Schuyler,  Arent,  54. 

Schuyler,  John,  55. 

Seal  of  First  Presbyterian  Church,  180. 

Second  meeting-house,  139. 

Sergeant,  Jonathan  D.,  163, 

Sheep  ;  Preservation  of,  44. 

Shingleton,  142. 

Shipman,  Charles  T.,  24S. 

Shoe-making,  43,  278-280. 

Shores,  Jonathan,  137,  142. 

Sinnick,  Thomas,  162. 

Small  Pox.  See  Disease  and  Pesti- 
lence. 

Smellis,  Dr.,  293. 

Smith,  Abigail,  297. 

Smith,  ApoUos,  149. 

Smith,  Blanche,  197. 

Smith,  Rev.  Caleb,  64,  ir8  ;  Biogra- 
phical sketch  of,  120-129 ; 
His  sermons  and  briefs,  124, 
125  ;  His  Grammar  School, 
131-134  ;  His  book  of  ac- 
counts, 139  ;  In  his  parsonage, 
145  ;  Loses  his  wife,  145  ;  Mar- 
ries Rebecca,  daughter  of  Ma- 
jor Isaac  Foot,  146;  Flis  death, 
147  ;  His  will,  147,  148  ;  Mar- 
riage of  his  widow,  148  ;  His 
church  record  ;  Sermon  by, 
I53~i57  ;  Referred  to,  142, 
194,  224,  235,  243,  264,  291, 
292. 


Smith,  David,  142. 

Smith,  Ebenezer,  142. 

Smith,  Elizabeth,  133. 

Smith,  Eunice,  208, 

Smith,  Henry,  121. 

Smith,  Pliram,  206,  209. 

Smith,  Isaac,  142,  162. 

Smith,  James,  142. 

Smith,  Jemima,  105. 

Smith,  Joanna,  208. 

Smith,  John,  123,  142,  150,  192. 

Smith,  Joseph,  142,  206,  208,  319. 

Smith,  Dr.  Lynden  A.,  241. 

Smith,  Mary.  122,  145. 

Smith,  Martha,  295,  297. 

Smith,  Phebe,  206,  208. 

Smith    Rebecca,  146. 

Smith,  Richard,  105,  163. 

Smith,  Sarah,  208. 

Smith,  William,  120,  I2i,  142. 

Smith,  William  P.,  161. 

Settlers,  First,  83. 

South  Orange,  School  at,  77. 

Soverill,  Jane,  206. 

Spear,  Captain,  174. 

Spear,  John,  164. 

Specie.     See  Coins. 

Squier (Squire),  Henry,  142,  230,  233, 

308. 
Steam  Engine  ;  The  first  introduced 

into  the  Colonies,  55. 
Stearns,  Rev.  Jonathan,  98,  99,  120, 

249.  255- 
Stockman,  Benjamin,  152. 
Stockman,  Elizabeth,  152. 
Stockman,  John,  142,  152. 
Stockman,  William,  152. 
Sullivan,  John,  319. 
Surveyors  ot  Highways,  45,  46. 
Swaine,  Samuel,  72. 
Swamps,  13-16. 
Swinefield  Road,  51. 

T. 

Tanneries.      See  Leather. 

Taverns.      See  Ordinaries. 

Taxes  paid  in  produce,  70. 

Taylor,  Charlotte,  11 1. 

Taylor,  Rev.  Daniel  ;  His  vindica- 
tion of  the  purchases  of  lands, 
against  the  Proprietors,  94  ; 
Referred  to,  96,  103  ;  Bio- 
graphical sketch  of,  104-111  ; 
A  sermon  -by,  111-117  ;  Re- 
ferred to,  118-120,  123,  135. 

Taylor,  Gilbert,  142. 

Taylor,  Jacob,  142,  150,  151. 

Taylor,  John,  151. 

Taylor,  Mary,  ill. 


Index. 


333 


Taylor,  Oliver,  iii. 
Taylor,  Rachael,  150,  151. 
Teedyescung,    a    Delaware     Indian, 

28,  29. 
Terry,  Sarah,  299. 
Thane,  Rev.  Daniel,  124,  125. 
Third  meeting-house,  269. 
Tichenor,  David,  142. 
Tichenor,  John,  210. 
Tichenor,  Mary,  210. 
Tichenor,  Samuel  W.,  230,  281. 
Timber,  275,  276. 
Tomkins,  Daniel,  210. 
Tomkins,  Edward  (Ned),  173. 
Tomkins,  Hannah  Allen,  210. 
Tomkins,  John,  96,  151. 
Tomkins,  Jonathan,  142,  210. 
Tomkins,  Joseph,  210,  308. 
Tomkins,  Samuel,  209. 
Tompkins,  Job,  153,  207,  210. 
Tompkins,  John,  96,  151. 
Tompkins,  Jonathan,  150,  152,  153. 
Tompkins,  Obadiah,  206. 
Tompkins,  Phebe,  152. 
Tompkins,  Sarah,  206. 
Towner,  William  W.,  319. 
Tony's  Path,  83. 

Topography  of  Newark  Mountain,  9. 
Tories,    at  Caldwell,    169 ;    At   Fort 

Delancy,   on     Bergen    Neck, 

211  ;  Their  address  to  Prince 

William  Henry,  212;  Of  whom 

made  up,  309. 
Tory  Corner,  22,  49,  51,  311. 
Town  at  the  River.     See  A'ewark. 
Townly,  Benjamin,  319. 
Traffic,  70,  71. 
Trapfoot,  a  noted  buck,  20. 
Treat,  John,  249. 
Treat,  Robert,  3,  72. 
Tucker,  Samuel,  162. 
Tunis,  Nehemiah,  319. 
Turner,  Dr.  William,  289. 
Turnpike,  266-268. 
Tuttle,  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph  F.,  176. 
Twelve  Proprietors  of    New  Jersey. 

See  Lords  Proprietors. 
Twenty-four  Proprietors  of  New  Jer- 

sey.     See  Lords  Proprietors. 

V. 

Vanarsdale,  Rev.  Mr.,  199. 

Van  Cortland,  Philip,   165,  306,  308. 

Van  Winkle,  Gideon,  58,  59. 

Vauquellin.      See  Delaprary. 

Vincent,  Amos,  278. 

Vincent,  Cornelius,  142. 

Vincent,  Esther,  209. 

Vincent,  John,  96,  142. 


Vincent,  Levi,  142,  206,  209. 
Vincent,  Mary,  206,  209. 

W. 

Walls  (Wells),  John,  135,  236. 

Wampum,  the  Indian  money,  24,  25. 

Ward,  Abel,  142,  150,  152. 

Ward,  Abigail,  208. 

Ward,  Abner,  277. 

Ward,  Benjamin,  319. 

Ward,  Bethuel,  207,  209,  210. 

Ward,  Charlotte,  297. 

Ward,  Daniel,  142. 

Ward,  David,  137. 

Ward,  Elihu,  142. 

Ward,  Ezekiel,  139,  142,  150-152. 

Ward,  Hannah,  207,  209,  210. 

Ward,  Isaac,  142,  152,  209,  260. 

Ward,  Jane,  209. 

Ward,  John,  42,  109,  150,   209,  297. 

Ward,  Jonathan,  137,  152. 

Ward,  Joseph,  297, 

Ward,  Mark  A.,  172. 

Ward,  Mar)%  209. 

Ward,  Moses,  151. 

Ward,  Nathan,  142. 

Ward,  Nehemiah,  207. 

Ward,  Sarah,  210. 

Ward,  Capt.  Thomas,  211,  212. 

Ward,  Timothy,  207,  208,  2IO,  235, 

318. 
Ward,  Zebina,  319. 
Ward,  Zenas,  272. 
Ward,  Col.,  278. 
Wardsesson,  51,  193. 
Washington  Academy,  231. 
Washington,   George  ;    In  the  New- 
ark Mountains,  167,  172,  173  ; 

Breaks  his  field  glass  at  Mor- 

ristown,  179. 
Washington  Street,  51. 
Watchung  ;  Great  Mountain,  2.    See 

also  Nezoark  Mountain. 
Water  Sheds,  11. 
Waterbury,  John  H.,  221. 
Watson,  Rev.  John,  221. 
Watts'  Psalmody,  194,  195. 
Webb,  Rev.  Joseph,  97  ;  Settlement 

of  as  pastor  of  the  Church  at 

the  Mountain,  98-100  ;  Death 

of,  103,  104. 
Wells  (Walls),  John,  135,  236. 
Wheeler,  James,  164. 
Wheeler,  Nathaniel,  47-49,  235-237. 
Wheeler,  Samuel,  95,  102,   130,  138, 

143,  242,  246,  2S6. 
Whiskey  Lane,   170;  Origin  of  the 

name  of,  180,  181. 
White,  Joseph  M.,  191. 


334 


History  of  the   Oranges. 


Whitehead,  William  A.,  64. 
Wigwam  Brook  ;   Its  source  and  ori- 
gin of  its  name,  14. 

Wilcox, .  143. 

Willett,  Thomas,  102. 
Williams,  Aaron,  152. 
Williams,  Amos,  47,  50,  51,   84,  95, 

100,  136,  143,  170,    188,  274, 

290,  308,  311. 
Williams,  Anna,  210. 
Williams,  Benjamin,  185,    274,  290, 

30S-312. 
W^illiams,  Caleb,  153. 
Williams,  Daniel,  143,  223. 
Williams,  David,  137,  143,  144,  150, 

151. 
Williams,  Dorcas,  209. 
Williams,  Enos,  290. 
Williams,  Esther,  210. 
Williams,  Gershom,    95,     138,    143, 

150-152,  207,  290. 
Williams,  Hannah,  206. 
Williams,  Isaac,  143,   150,   152,  153, 

245,  247,  262,  272. 
Williams,  James,  290,  311. 
Williams,  Jairus,  151. 
Williams,  Jesse,    57,    83,    100,    201, 

209,  273,  307. 
Williams,  Job,  281. 
Williams,  Jonas,  152. 
Williams,  Jonathan,  308. 
Williams,  Joseph,  143,  274. 
Williams,  Katharine,  209, 
Williams,  Lewis,  2S1,  319. 
Williams,  Linus,  319. 
Williams,  Martha,  207,  210. 
Williams,  Mary,  153. 
Williams,  Matthew,   14,  51,  83,  84, 

100,  102,  130,    135,   143,  150, 

209,  242,  245,  247,  290,  307. 
Williams,  Moses,  263. 
Williams,  Nathaniel,  274,  290,  311. 
Williams,  Peter,  152. 


Williams,  Robert,  152. 

Williams,  Ruth,  152. 

Williams,  R.  G. ,  281. 

Williams,  Samuel,  84.  85,   143,  206, 

238,  274,  290. 
Williams,  Sarah,  290. 
Williams,  Silas,  210. 
Williams,   Thomas,  20,    51,   95,  96, 

137,  143,  173,  209,  223,  271- 

273,  290,  307,  308,  310. 
Williams,  Timothy,    143,    150,    152, 

153.   207. 
Williams,  William  Brown,  273. 
Williamson,  William,  143. 
Williamsville,  49.      See  Tory  Corner. 
Wilson,  Ephraim  King,  299. 
Winans,  Abraham,    230,     271,    275, 

278. 
Winchell,  Asa,  319. 
Winds,  General,  176. 
Winthrop,  Governor,  4,  104. 
Witherspoon,  Dr.  John,  43. 
Wood,  James,  143. 
Wood,  Silas,  299. 
"Woodhull,  John,  64,  I33-I35- 
Woodhull,  William,  133-135- 
Woodruff,  Stephen,  319. 
Wool,  276-278. 
Woolen  Manufactures,  63. 
Wright,  Elizabeth,  209. 
Wright,  Jane,  209. 
Wright,  John,  209. 
Wright,  Sarah,  209. 

Y. 
Yard,  Joseph,  133. 
York  Money  ;  What  it  was,  67. 
Yeoman,  Squire.  319. 
Young,  David,  252. 
Young,  Jonathan,  143,  150. 
Young,  Kezia,  150. 
Young,  Robert,  96,  143,  249,  252. 
Young,  Steven,  96. 


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